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Copy  of  Portrait  in  the  p. 


MARY    iMATTOON. 

ossession  of  Mrs.  Mary  Mattoou  VVolcott  Cla 


'pp. 


Mary    Mattoon 


AND 


Her  Hero  of  the  Revolution 


BY 


ALICE  M.  WALKER 


COVER    DESIGN 


MARTHA    GENUNG 


AMHERST,    MASSACHUSETTS 
1902 


LIBRARY^ 

UNIVERSITY  OF 
MA^ACHUSEnS 

AMHERST,  MASS. 


Cop^Tight  1902 

BY 

Alice  M.  Walker 


Zo  the       ^ 
/iDarp  /iDattoon  Cbapter, 
WawQbtcvs  ot  tbe  Hmetican  IRevolutton, 

ot  Bmberet,  /Ibassacbueetts, 

THIS   STORY   OF   ITS    HEROINE   AND   HER    HERO 

Is  DeDicateD 


X'\3^( 


Fore-word 


N  presenting  to  the  public  this  sketch  of  Mary  Mattoon 
and  her  Hero,  the  author  makes  grateful  ack- 
nowledgment to  the  members  of  the  Mattoon  family 
and  to  other  interested  persons  who  contributed  material 
for  the  illustrations  as  well  as  much  information.  Of  the 
grandchildren  of  the  Mattoons,  Mr.  Isaac  Gridley  of 
Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  furnished  a  copy  of  the  Trumbull  por- 
trait of  the  General,  and  Mrs.  Dorothy  G.  Vannevar,  of 
Kendall  Green,  Massachusetts,  gave  information.  Of 
the  great  grandchildren,  Mrs.  Mary  Mattoon  Wolcott 
Clapp,  Berkeley,  California,  sent  copies  of  the  portraits  of 
Mary  Mattoon  and  the  General ;  Mr.  William  Mattoon 
King,  New  York  City,  sent  a  copy  of  a  portrait  of  the 
General ;  Mrs.  Edith  Dwight  Wolcott  Davis  of  Lynch- 
burg, Virginia,  sent  a  copy  of  the  miniature  of  the  Gen- 
eral; Mr.  Ithamar  C.  Cowles,  Unionville,  Ohio,  sent  a 
photograph  of  the  sword  and  table,  Mrs.  Ella  D.  Robin- 
son, South  Hartwick,  New  York,  gave  items  of  interest; 
and  all  of  these  contributed  much  valuable  information. 
Mrs.  Anna  M.  Bardwell,  South  Pasadena,  California,  a 
great  granddaughter  of  Elizabeth  Mattoon  Clapp,  sister 


6  Foreword 

of  the  General,  furnished  information.  Mrs.  Austin 
Street,  Holyoke,  Massachusetts,  a  niece  of  MaryMattoon, 
loaned  a  family  Bible  belonging  to  Noah  Dickinson,  con- 
taining a  record  of  the  birth  of  Mary  Mattoon.  Miss 
Kate  Conkey,  Amherst,  Massachusetts,  loaned  an  auto- 
graph letter  and  other  valuable  documents.  Among 
others  to  whom  acknowledgments  are  due  are  Mr.  M.  E. 
Dwight,  New  York  City,  Mrs.  Isa  F.  Sanford,  Bunker 
Hill,  Illinois,  Mr.  John  B.  Tyler,  Billerica,  Massachusetts, 
Mr.  Timothy  Spaulding,  Northampton,  Massachusetts, 
and  many  residents  of  Amherst.  Among  the  authorities 
consulted  are  Carpenter  &  Morehouse,  History  of  Amherst  \ 
Judd,  History  of  Hadley  ;  Parmenter,  History  of  Pelham  ; 
Chase,  History  of  Dartjuouth  College^  and  Hanover^  N.  H.\ 
Chapman,  Mafiual  of  Dartmouth  College;  The  Hampshire 
Gazette;  and  the  well  known  books  by  Alice  Morse 
Earle.  A.   M.  W. 

Amherst^  Massachusetts^  ig02. 


Mary  Mattoon  and  Her  Hero 
of  the  Revolution 


I. 

THE  fertile  lands  comprised  within  the  limits  of  Old 
Hadley  and  her  "  Third  Precinct,"  the  Amherst 
of  to-day,  were  bought  in  1658  from  the  Indian 
tribe  of  the  Norwottucks  by  John  Pynchon  of  Springfield. 
"  In  consideration  of  two  hundred  fathom  of  wompon, 
and  twenty  fathom  and  one  large  coat  at  eight  fathom  " 
the  three  Indian  chieftains,  Umpanchla — alias  Wom- 
scom,  Quonquont — alias  Wompshaw,  and  Chickwalopp 
— alias  Wowahillowa,  completed  the  bargain.  After 
reserving  certain  fields  on  which  the  squaws  might 
plant  and  harvest  their  scanty  crops  of  corn,  and  stipula- 
ting for  "  liberty  to  hunt  deer,  fowl,  etc.,  and  to  take  fish, 
beaver  or  otter,  etc.,"  the  Sachem  Chickwalopp  made  for 
his  signature  a  circular  figure  with  a  neck,  Umpanchla 
drew  a  bow  and   string,  and  Quonquont  produced  some 


8  Mary  Mat  toon  aiid 

zigzag  marks  upon  the  deed,  which  was  duly  witnessed 
and  executed.  Thus  passed  forever  from  the  possession 
of  the  River  Indians  these  happy  hunting  grounds  of 
their  fathers. 

Certain  "  withdrawers  "  from  the  church  in  Hartford, 
who  had  employed  Major  Pynchon  as  their  agent,  paid 
him  £(i2,  I  OS.  in  money,  grain  and  merchandise  for  the 
land  east  of  the  Connecticut  River.  In  1661  twenty- 
eight  persons  had  taken  up  their  residence  in  the  "  New 
Plantation,"  which  they  had  named  Hadley  from  a  town 
in  England,  presumably  dear  to  the  homesick  hearts  of 
some  among  their  number.  The  settlement  prospered 
and  spread  eastward  toward  the  Pelham  hills,  and  south- 
ward toward  the  "  Great  Falls."  A  meeting-house  was 
built,  and  in  1667  a  grammar  school  was  founded  from 
funds  provided  by  Edward  Hopkins.  In  spite  of  Indian 
wars  which  followed  in  rapid  succession,  the  year  1703 
found  hamlets  springing  up  all  along  the  river.  Before 
this  date  a  man  named  Foote  had  built  a  log  hut  near  the 
site  of  the  present  East  Amherst  meeting-house,  and  had 
attempted  to  live  there  by  hunting  and  fishing.  His  plan 
did  not  succeed,  and  the  eastern  part  of  the  town  for 
many  years  after  was  known  as  "  Foote  Folly  Swamp." 
This  fact,  however,  did  not  deter  the  venturesome  from 
leaving  the  river  banks  and  securing  land  along  that  part 
of  the  settlement  within  the  present  Amherst  limits.  In 
1730  the  "  East  Inhabitants"  had  become  so  numerous 


Her  Hero  of  the  Revolution  g 

as  to  require  a  place  in  which  to  bury  their  dead,  and  we 
find  them  appointing  a  "  Comity  "  to  lay  out  a  burying 
ground.  To-day  in  the  old  West  cemetery  they  and  their 
descendants  sleep. 

In  1734  a  petition  signed  by  these  "  East  Inhabitants," 
praying  that  they  might  be  set  off  a  separate  precinct, 
was  presented  to  the  General  Court.  The  prayer 
was  granted,  and  in  1735  Hadley  Third  Precinct  was 
*'  erected,"  on  condition  that  within  three  years  a  house 
of  public  worship  should  be  built,  and  a  minister  settled. 
A  committee  to  build  the  meeting-house  was  immediately 
appointed,  and  Rev.  David  Parsons  was  engaged  to  be 
the  pastor.  About  one  hundred  years  after  the  settlement 
of  Springfield  this  entry  was  made  in  the  church  record 
book:  -'November,  1735,  I  Began  my  ministry  at  Had- 
ley." Immediately  following  we  read  of  the  ordination 
of  Rev.  David  Parsons,  Nov.  7,  1739,  as  the  first  minis- 
ter of  the  new  church.  This  famous  divine  was  a  grad- 
uate of  Harvard,  scholarly  and  orthodox,  a  man  of  power- 
ful intellect  and  shrewd  mind,  an  ideal  preacher  of  the 
old  school.  The  records  of  the  church  for  many  years 
are  almost  entirely  devoted  to  votes  concerning  Rev. 
Parsons  :  how  to  raise  his  "  sallery,"  how  to  procure  the 
enormous  quantities  of  wood  which  he  required,  how  to 
seat  the  meeting-house  in  which  he  preached,  giving  each 
person  a  place  according  to  his  standing  in  the  commu- 
nity.    Committees  were   appointed  from  year  to  year  to 


10  Mary  Mattoon   and 

arrange  with  regard  to  the  "  Hind  Seats,"  and  the  "Late 
Seators,"  and  the  seats  in  the  "  upper  Teer  in  the  Gal- 
lery," but  these  were  matters  of  minor  importance.  The 
Rev.  Parsons  "  sallery  "  and  his  firewood  must  be  pro- 
vided even  before  the  "  able  bodied  person  "  was  engaged 
to  sweep  the  meeting-house  and  summon  the  faithful  by 
blowing  "  ye  kunk  "  on  Sundays. 


11. 


THIS  old  First  Church  of  Hadley,  Third  Precinct, 
was  originally  composed  of  sixteen  men,  all 
householders  and  heads  of  families.  The  wives^ 
daughters  and  sisters  were  admitted  to  membership 
during  the  first  year.  Among  these  sixteen  names  we 
find  that  of  Eleazer  "  Mattun,"  who  had  come  down 
from  Northfield  and  linked  his  fortunes  with  that  of  the 
new  Precinct  and  its  recently  organized  church.  The 
families  which  constituted  this  frontier  settlement  were 
from  Old  Hadley  and  from  Hatfield,  and  were  bound 
together  by  ties  of  relationship,  by  common  interests  and 
beliefs,  and  by  a  spirit  of  mutual  helpfulness  which 
enabled  them  to  obtain  the  necessaries  of  life.  Four 
days  after  the  church  was  organized  the  pastor  baptized 
Jonathan,   son   of  Jonathan    and  Sarah  Cowls,  and  soon 


Her  Hero  of  the  Revolution  1 1 

after  three  other  children  were  baptized.  During  that 
one  pastorate  five  hundred  and  eighty-three  baptisms, 
nearly  all  those  of  children  upon  whom  the  parents  had 
sought  the  blessings  of  the  covenant,  bore  witness  to  the 
godly  character  of  those  pioneers,  the  members  of  the 
First  Church  of  Amherst. 

The  century  had  been  eventful.  The  shadow  of  Indian 
wars  and  massacres  had  hindered  the  planting  of  settle- 
ments at  any  distance  from  the  river,  which  was  the  only 
means  of  communication.  After  one  hundred  years,  with 
the  exception  of  the  Connecticut  valley  and  Westfield, 
the  interior  of  Massachusetts  was  still  a  wilderness.  Chil- 
dren gathered  around  the  blazing  logs  in  the  cabins,  lis- 
tened with  interest  to  tales  from  father  and  mother,  who 
kept  in  vivid  remembrance  the  stirring  scenes  in  which 
they  had  borne  a  part.  The  grandfather  of  that  early 
day  could  tell  of  King  Philip's  war,  of  the  Indian  attack 
on  Hadley,  and  of  the  massacre  at  Bloody  Brook,  and 
perhaps  could  recall  the  events  of  the  first  journey  through 
the  forests  to  Wethersfield  and  thence  to  Hadley.  No 
doubt  in  many  a  Hadley  dwelling  there  were  related 
incidents  of  family  experiences  that  carried  both  story 
teller  and  listener  back  across  the  Atlantic  to  far  off, 
dearly  loved  English  homes. 

Eleazer  "  Mattun  "  could  have  told  a  tale  of  how  his 
father,  Philip  Mattoon,  when  a  boy,  made  the  perilous 
journey  from  Glasgow,  Scotland,  and  sought  his  fortunes 


12  Mary  Mattoon  and 

in  the  Massachusetts  wilderness.  Sir  Walter  Scott  in 
Feveril  of  the  Peak  describes  the  attack  on  Hadley  by  the 
Indians,  and  says  of  New  England:  "There  thousands 
of  our  best  and  most  godly  men  are  content  to  be  the 
inhabitants  of  the  desert,  rather  encountering  the  unen- 
lightened savage  than  stooping  to  extinguish,  under  the 
oppression  practiced  in  Britain,  the  light  that  is  within 
their  own  minds."  Such  doubtless  was  this  Scottish  boy 
Philip,  who  in  1676  was  sent  with  a  company  from  Bos- 
ton to  defend  the  towns  along  the  Connecticut  River 
from  Indian  invasion.  Conquering  the  foe,  he  fell  him- 
self a  victim  to  the  charms  of  Sarah  Hawks,  a  Springfield 
beauty,  and  the  next  year  he  removed  to  that  locality,  and 
married  her. 

Eleazer  "  Mattun "  was  born  in  Deerfield  in  1690,  in 
the  midst  of  troubled  times.  One  hundred  and  fifty 
Indians  were  encamped  that  year  on  the  side  of  Sugar 
Loaf.  A  garrison  of  soldiers  was  sent  from  Hartford  to 
protect  the  town.  Two  little  children  were  scalped  in 
Deerfield  village  in  1693,  and  the  next  year  the  savages 
attacked  the  fort.  The  people  of  Deerfield  were  always 
terrified  and  always  in  danger,  and  the  boyhood  of  Elea- 
zer  must  have  been  deeply  shadowed  by  the  warfare  of 
those  early  years.  We  know  but  little  about  him  except 
that  he  lived  for  a  time  in  Northfield,  where  he  was 
deacon  in  the  church,  and  that  he  removed  to  Hadley  in 
1734,  where  he   also  served  as  deacon.     He  had  at  this 


Her  Hero  of  the  Revolution  ij 

time    one    son,    Ebenezer,    who    was   sixteen   3/ears  old. 
In  the  records  of  town  meeting  of  Hadley  Third  Pre- 
cinct, after  the  date  1739,  we  find  the  entry : 

"  Voted,  yt  the  present  Comity  for  the  carrying  on  ye 
Building  ye  meeting  House  shall  dispose  of  ye  first 
hundred  and  fifty  pounds  yt  is  and  shall  be  paid  by  Dea 
Eleazer  Mattoon  as  they  think  best." 

The  "  Comity  "  evidently  referred  the  matter  to  the 
town,  for  in  the  next  town-meeting  warrant  the  freeholders 
are  asked  to  consider  "  how  Dea  Mattoon's  first  hundred 
and  fifty  pounds  shall  be  disposd  withall."  The  gift  of 
so  large  a  sum  of  money  in  those  days  proved  that  the 
donor  was  both  wealthy  and  generous. 

Eleazer  Mattoon  died  in  February,  1767.  The  general 
opinion  concerning  his  character  is  illustrated  by  an 
anecdote.  At  the  time  of  his  death,  the  snow  was  so 
deep  upon  the  ground  that  it  was  proposed  to  draw  the 
body  two  miles  to  West  cemetery  on  a  hand  sled.  Hear- 
ing this  the  Rev.  David  Parsons  cried  out  in  horror : 
"Such  a  saint  as  deacon  Mattoon  to  be  dragged  to  his 
grave  like  a  dead  dog  1"  and  added  with  all  the  authority 
given  to  the  Rev.  Clergy,  "  Never  !"  The  bearers  were 
therefore  obliged  to  lift  the  body  on  their  shoulders  and 
to  tramp  their  weary  way  through  the  snow  to  the  burial 
place. 

The  discovery  of  this  good  deacon  Eleazer  Mattoon 
among  the  original    members    of    the    First   Church    of 


i^  Mary  Mattoon  and 

Hadley  Third  Precinct  brings  to  our  notice  a  family 
whose  history  was  identified  with  that  of  the  town 
through  the  most  critical  period  of  its  existence,  and 
whose  honored  name  is  borne  to-day  by  many  worthy 
descendants. 

The  names  Ebenezer,  John,  Samuel,  Joseph  and  Wil- 
liam were  common  in  Hadley.  Young  Ebenezer  Mattoon 
therefore  was  in  the  fashion  as  regards  his  name.  Being 
an  only  son,  he  probably  inherited  much  of  his  father's 
property.  In  1747  he  married  Dorothy,  daughter  of  Dr. 
Nathaniel  Smith,  the  first  physician  in  the  town  and 
grandson  of  Philip  Smith,  whose  death  Cotton  Mather 
ascribed  to  witchcraft.  Ebenezer  and  his  young  wife 
settled  in  North  Amherst,  exactly  where  we  do  not  know. 
Eight  years  passed,  marked  by  the  birth  of  two  daughters, 
Dorothy  and  Elizabeth.  On  the  farm,  a  part  of  which 
in  1858  was  the  homestead  of  George  W.  Hobart,  three 
miles  north  of  the  center  of  the  town,  was  born,  Aug.  19, 
1755,  Ebenezer  Mattoon  Jr.,  great-grandson  of  Philip, 
the  Scotch  soldier,  and  destined  himself  to  become  a 
Hero  of  the  American  Revolution.  Zebina  Montague 
tells  us  that  the  house  in  which  this  son  was  born 
was  torn  down,  but  that  in  1858  one  built  upon  its  site 
was  still  standing.  This  site  is  declared  by  an  excel- 
lent authority  to  be  on  the  south  side  of  Pine  street  in 
North  Amherst  "  City,"  now  Cushman. 

From    this    home    Goodman    Ebenezer  Mattoon  came 


Her  Hero  of  the  Revohition  j§ 

down  on  horseback  over  the  rough  and  stony  road  with 
his  baby  five  days  old.  In  the  old  first  meeting-house  on 
college  hill,  Aug.  24,  1755,  Ebenezer  Jr.  was  christened 
by  Rev.  David  Parsons.  The  minister  took  the  child, 
dressed  in  its  long  white  robe,  and  sprinkled  water  upon 
its  face,  while  all  the  children  stood  on  the  seats  that  they 
might  see  the  interesting  ceremony.  History  says  that 
infants  usually  cried  during  this  ordeal.  We  imagine 
that  our  hero  smiled  into  the  stern  face  of  the  godly 
parson,  showing  thus  early  the  philosophic  endurance  of 
discomfort  and  the  sunny  disposition  which  were  predom- 
inant traits  in  his  character  throughout  a  long  and  hon- 
ored life.  A  stormy  autumn  followed  this  birth  and 
baptism.  In  November  the  Hampshire  Gazette  records  : 
"An  awful  earthquake  was  felt  in  Amherst."  Within 
the  year  the  mother  of  the  little  Ebenezer  died,  leaving 
three  children.  The  sturdy  boy  flourished,  wore  his 
httle  homespun  dress,  with  blue  and  white  checked  linen 
"  tier,"  ate  for  his  breakfast  bread,  pumpkin,  berries  or 
baked  apples  with  milk,  slept  in  the  wooden  cradle  or  the 
trundle  bed,  and  ran  bareheaded  and  barefooted  all  day 
long  about  the  farm.  Who  made  these  garments,  and 
cooked  the  meals,  and  cared  for  the  family,  we  do  not 
know.  We  are  told  that  in  1759  ^^^  father  married 
Sarah,  daughter  of  John  Alvord,  of  Northampton,  and 
thus  provided  a  step-mother  for  his  family,  in  time  to  sew 
the  deerskin  breeches  which  the  boy  would  need  at  an 
early  age. 


1 6  Mary  Mattoo7i  and 


III. 


THE  district  of  Amherst  was  indeed  a  wild  and 
lonely  hamlet.  Built  on  a  broad  plateau  sloping 
to  Hadley  on  the  west  and  to  the  foot  of  Pelham 
hills  on  the  east,  its  farms  were  as  fertile  as  any  in  the 
Connecticut  valley.  The  dwellers  in  its  scattered  houses 
raised  corn,  rye  and  barley,  which  was  bolted  by  hand, 
and  ground  in  the  mill  at  Mill  Hollow.  Taxes  and  min- 
ister's "salleries  "  were  paid  in  grain.  Horses  and  sheep 
roamed  in  the  woods  on  the  mountain  sides,  but  cows 
were  under  a  keeper.  Long  and  lean  swine  fought  bears, 
wolves  and  rattlesnakes  in  the  depths  of  the  forest,  and 
were  allowed  upon  the  highways  only  when  decorated, 
with  a  yoke  "  as  long  up  and  down  as  2\  times  the  depth 
of  the  neck."  Flocks  of  geese  infested  the  streets,  and 
on  warm  days  crowded  into  the  space  under  the  meeting- 
house in  Old  Hadley,  sometimes  making  audible  response 
to  the  service  in  the  room  above. 

The  name  of  Dickinson  is  borne  to-day  by  many 
descendants  of  the  early  Amherst  farmers.  Ebenezer 
Dickinson,  the  founder  of  the  family  in  Amherst,  was  the 
son  of  Nehemiah,  and  grandson  of  Nathaniel,  one  of  the 
original  settlers  of  Hadley,  who  came  from  Wethersfield 
in  1659.  Ebenezer's  daughter  Mary  married  in  1757 
Noah  Dickinson,  son  of  Jonathan,  who  came  to  Amherst 


Her  Hero  of  the  Revolutioii  ly 

from  Hatfield.  Their  daughter,  Mary,  born  March  lo, 
1758,  probably  in  a  house  on  the  south  side  of  Main 
street  near  the  corner  of  East  street,  is  the  heroine  of 
our  story.  The  following  taken  from  the  family  Bible  of 
Noah  Dickinson,  now  owned  by  his  granddaughter,  Mrs. 
Austin  Street  of  Holyoke,  is  the  family  record : 

"  Noah    Dickinson   and    Mary    Dickinson    maryed    in 
April  ye  28  1757 

Mary  Dickinson  born  in  March  the  10  1758   and   mar- 
ried the  8th  of  July  1779 

Mother  Mary  Dickinson  died  April  13  1763 
Farther  Jonathan  Died  December  ye  31,  1788 
Noah  Dickinson  and  Seusanah  Ward  maryed  in  March 
13  1792 

Jonathan  Dickinson  born  in  May  the  19  1775 
Father  Noah  Dickinson  Died  May  the  28th   1815     In 
the  eighty  sicks  year  of  his  age. 

John  Dickinson  Born  June  3  Third  1817  " 
The  little  boy  whom  Mary  Dickinson  was  to  marry  and 
who  was  to  become  the  famous  General  Mattoon,  who 
fought  in  the  battle  of  Saratoga,  was  then  about  three  years 
old,  wearing  his  checked  pinafore  and  eating  his  bread 
and  milk  on  the  farm  in  North  Amherst. 

In  1759  Amherst,  although  still  a  district,  received  its 

present  name.     The  Scotch-Irish  settlers  in  Pelham  used 

potatoes  as  daily  food.     Amherst  farmers  also  had  begun 

to  raise  potatoes,  though  many  aristocrats  thought  them 

2 


i8  Mary  Mattooii  and 

hardly  fit  to  eat,  and  could  not  imagine  what  Josiah 
Pierce  of  Hadley  intended  to  do  with  the  eight  bushels 
which  he  dug  and  put  into  his  cellar.  It  is  quite  possible 
that  little  Mary  Dickinson  may  have  been  given  potatoes 
to  eat  with  her  milk,  and  if  so,  they  agreed  with  her,  and 
enabled  her  to  withstand  the  cold  of  that  first  winter, 
clothed  as  she  was  in  the  thinnest  of  linen  garments. 
When  she  was  two  years  old  her  father,  Noah  Dickinson, 
went  down  to  West  street  in  South  Amherst  and  ordered 
of  James  Merrick,  the  shoemaker,  a  pair  of  "  pumps " 
for  his  little  girl,  for  which  he  paid  14s.  3d.  From  finest 
lamb's  wool  Mary's  mother  knit  the  stockings  to  be  worn 
inside  the  "  pumps."  The  child's  Sunday  gown  may 
have  been  made  of  India  calico,  printed  in  gay  colors, 
cut  low  in  the  neck,  with  short  sleeves,  and  outside 
sleeves  to  tie  on  in  cold  weather. 

The  practical  training  of  children  in  those  days  began 
almost  at  birth.  Some  knitting  needles  were  soon  put 
into  the  hands  of  our  little  heroine,  and  she  was  taught 
the  beginning  of  what  was  to  be  a  daily  task.  Where 
she  first  went  to  school  we  do  not  know,  but  that  she  did 
go  we  are  sure,  for  though  the  schooling  of  a  girl  was 
considered  of  much  less  importance  than  her  instruction 
in  household  duties,  yet  even  girls  were  expected  to  learn 
to  read  and  to  write.  The  principal  early  schools  in 
Amherst  were  kept  by  men,  but  three  "  scool  dames  " 
were  hired  to  teach  in  the  summer  before  little  Mary  was 


Her  Hero  of  the  Revohitioii  ig 

born,  and  it  is  very  probable  that  in  some  farmer's  kitchen 
such  a  dame  taught  the  child  to  read. 

The  inhabitants  of  Amherst  were  scattered  over  many 
miles,  when  in  1764  it  was  voted  to  build  four  school- 
houses.  A  controversy  arose  as  to  their  location,  all 
parents  desiring  them  built  in  their  own  immediate 
neighborhood.  The  north  schoolhouse  vvas  located  at 
the  "  City."  There  the  boy  Ebenezer  Mattoon,  now 
grown  large  enough  to  wear  a  skin  tight  nankeen  suit,  or 
one  of  calico  printed  with  bars  running  up  and  down, 
which  produced  the  effect  of  a  striped  eel,  was  taught 
from  the  primer,  psalter  and  testament,  and  switched  with 
birch  rods  on  his  bare  legs  whenever  his  attention  wan- 
dered from  the  dull  task  before  him.  He  was,  however, 
one  of  those  of  whom  Cotton  Mather  said  :  "  The  Youth 
of  this  Country  are  verie  sharp  and  early  Ripe  in  their 
Capacities."  There  is  no  doubt  but  that  the  boy 
absorbed  not  only  all  the  learning  in  the  poorly  printed 
text-books,  but  also  all  that  the  teachers  of  the  day  were 
able  to  impart.  A  child  in  old  New  England  was  never 
allowed  to  be  idle,  but  to  a  healthy,  active  lad,  the  tasks 
assigned  were  only  pleasures.  To  feed  and  milk  the 
cows,  and  to  care  for  the  lambs,  to  catch  a  ride  on  the 
young  colt,  and  to  carry  the  corn  on  horseback  to  Mill 
Hollow  to  be  ground,  were  pleasant  features  of  the  happy 
out  of  door  life  of  the  farmer's  boy. 

The    eldest    son,  and    for    several    years  the  only  one, 


20  Mary  Mat  to  on  and 

young  Ebenezer  Mattoon  became  his  father's  companion 
and  friend.  Together  they  hunted  in  the  forests  along  Mt. 
Toby,  and  followed  tracks  of  bear  and  deer,  and  brought 
back  many  a  fat  wild  turkey  for  the  Sunday  dinner. 
They  picked  up  in  the  woods  pieces  of  resinous  pine 
called  candlewood,  to  burn  for  light,  placing  them  upon 
the  flat  stones  in  the  corner  of  the  fireplace,  or  carrying 
them  down  the  uncertain  cellar  stairs  when  in  search  of 
apples  and  cider.  Walnuts  and  hickory-nuts  were  gath- 
ered to  be  exchanged  for  groceries.  In  early  spring 
father  and  son  went  into  the  vvoods,  and  tapped  the  maple 
trees  amid  the  lightly  falling  sugar  snow.  What  joy  to 
the  susceptible  heart  of  the  New  England  boy  to  camp 
out  on  the  mountain  side,  and  wake  to  see  the  stars 
through  cracks  in  the  roof  of  the  rough  shanty,  and  to 
hear  the-  hooting  of  the  owl  from  the  mysterious  depths 
of  the  primeval  forest !  Wolves  prowled  about  just  beyond 
the  firelight  glow,  and  slunk  away  at  sunrise.  Wander- 
ing Indians  from  across  the  river  visited  the  camp  in 
search  of  a  kind  of  liquor  wrongly  named  "  Kill-devil," 
and  tasted  curiously  the  boiling  maple  so.p.  But  none  of 
these  visitors  harmed  the  boy. 

Fearing  nothing,  he  learned  to  find  his  way  along  the 
Indian  trails,  and  with  keen,  wide  open  eyes  gathered  a 
store  of  practical  knowledge,  of  much  greater  value  than 
the  finished  sugar  which  at  the  close  of  the  season  was 
carried    home    to   use    in    trade   and    for   ''sweetening." 


Her  Hero  of  the  Revolution  21 

Sometimes    the   farmer    and  his  boy  found  a  bee  tree  in 
Hadley  woods,  and  took  from  its  hollow  trunk  a  store  of 
honey    to    delight   the    hearts    of  mother    and  the  girls. 
Again,    when    game    was    scarce    and   pork    low    in    the 
'♦  powdering  tub,"   they  rode  on  horseback  to  the  fishing 
place    at    Hockanum,  where    in   1773,  forty  salmon,  the 
largest   weighing  between   thirty   and  forty  pounds,  were 
caught  in  one  day.     There   the   river   sometimes   seemed 
so  full  of  shad  that  the  boatmen  struck  their  oars  against 
them.     Sturgeon  were  taken  with  spears  above  the  falls. 
Lampreys   were  very   numerous,  and  were  caught  in  the 
hands  at  night  by  tiie  light  of  a  birch-bark  torch.     During 
some  of  these  excursions  the  fishermen  may  have  passed 
the   cabin    where  dwelt  the  family  of  Silvine  Dupee,  an 
Acadian  from    Evangeline's   land,  who  with  his  wife  and 
seven  children  was  for  five  years  charitably  supported  in 
Northampton.     Their  strange  dress  and  their  jabbering 
in  French  made  these  poor  exiles  objects  of  curiosity,  and 
not  a  detail  of  all  this  escaped  the  eyes  of  the  enquiring 
boy. 

Thus  studying  little  from  books  and  much  from  Nature, 
young  Ebenezer  Mattoon  spent  the  days  of  early  boy- 
hood. On  Sundays  we  find  him  in  the  old  church  on 
College  hill,  seated  beside  his  father  in  the  square  box 
pew,  listening  to  long  sermons  preached  by  the  Rev. 
David  Parsons,  and  wondering  if  they  will  never  end. 
We   feel  certain  that   he   who,  when   a  blind  old  man  of 


22  Mary  Mattooii  and 

over  eighty,  loved  fun  and  practical  jokes  as  well  as  did 
the  children  who  were  his  chosen  friends,  was  in  his  youth 
a  mischievous,  rollicking  boy,  in  whose  vicinity  the  tithing- 
man  found  it  well  to  linger.  Having  sisters  of  his  own,  he 
probably  took  no  especial  interest  in  girls,  yet  sometimes 
he  may  have  noticed  seated  by  her  mother  among  the 
women,  our  little  maiden  from  East  Street,  with  big  blue 
eyes  and  serious  face.  All  those  who  remember  her 
to-day  tell  us  that  Mary  Mattoon  was  not  much  of  a 
talker  and  was  of  a  reticent  disposition,  so  we  are  justi- 
fied in  believing  that  she  was  a  quiet  child,  and  therefore 
the  more  attractive  to  her  opposite  in  nature.  For  some 
unknown  reason  Mary  Dickinson  was  not  baptized  until 
she  was  eight  years  of  age.  This  rite,  performed  Aug. 
lo,  1766,  by  Rev.  David  Parsons,  probably  took  place  in 
the  old  church  on  Sunday,  and  was  witnessed  by  the 
assembled  congregation,  the  six  slaves  then  owned  in 
town  grinning  from  their  corner  in  the  gallery.  If  Eben- 
ezer  Mattoon,  now  eleven  years  of  age,  had  not  before 
noticed  the  heroine  of  our  story,  no  doubt  that  day  he 
gazed  with  astonishment  at  the  big  girl  receiving  baptism 
like  a  baby. 

At  this  time  both  children  may  have  been  attending  the 
school  taught  by  Josiah  Pierce  of  Hadley,  who  received  for 
his  services  $5.33  each  month,  and  "  boarded  round, "keep- 
ing also  an  evening  "  cyphering  school."  Teachers  were 
paid  in  produce,  and  the  parents    of  the  children  were 


Her  Hero  of  the  Revolution  2j 

obliged  to  furnish  wood.  Lead  pencils  and  slates  were 
unknown,  and  paper  was  scarce,  which  accounts  for  the 
small  writing  so  hard  to  read  to-day.  Quills  from  the  geese 
were  made  into  pens,  and  homemade  ink  was  manufactured 
by  boiling  the  bark  of  the  swamp  maple  in  water  until  it 
became  thick,  and  then  diluting  with  copperas.  We  hope 
our  little  East  Amherst  girl  was  allowed  to  receive  what 
instruction  schoolmaster  Pierce  could  give,  and  was  not 
obliged,  like  a  little  girl  in  Hatfield,  to  sit  on  the  school- 
house  steps  and  learn  what  she  could  by  listening  to  the 
boys  who  were  inside.  In  1769  Mr.  Pierce  was  compelled 
to  close  his  school  for  want  of  wood,  and  thus  his  work 
in  Amherst  came  to  an  untimely  end.  Ebenezer,  however, 
at  fourteen  years  of  age,  had  decided  that  he  would  get 
an  education.  In  his  own  words  we  read:  ''My  studies 
preparatory  for  college  were  pursued  under  the  tuition  of 
Rev.  David  Parsons,  the  first  minister  of  Amherst." 
Just  when  he  began  these  studies,  which  were  probably 
"pursued"  as  a  member  of  the  family  of  the  learned 
divine,  we  do  not  know. 

In  1770  the  family  of  Mattoon,  which  now  included 
seven  children,  had  moved  from  the  "  City  "  into  a 
mansion,  supposed  to  have  been  built  by  Ebenezer,  Sr., 
on  the  east  side  of  East  Pleasant  street,  North  Amherst,  a 
short  distance  south  of  the  cemetery.  This  large  square 
dwelling  has  always  been  known  as  the  Mattoon  house, 
and  is  noted  for  the  beautifully  carved  mantel  and  other 


2^  Mary  Mat  toon  and 

wood  work  in  the  parlor,  which  in  its  day  marked  the 
proprietor  as  being  a  man  of  wealth  and  taste.  He 
owned  at  this  time  2  oxen,  2  horses,  4  cows,  13  sheep,  3 
swine,  and  had  £(io  at  interest.  His  personal  property  was 
worth  ;^2o,  15s.,  his  house  and  land  ;^58,  his  real  estate 
^75,  I  OS,  amounting  in  all  to  ;^96,  5s.  We  learn  this  by 
consulting  the  tax-list,  and  can  see  why  Ebenezer 
Mattoon,  being  so  well  off  in  this  world's  goods  and 
having  another  boy  Eleazer  to  keep  him  company,  may 
have  decided  to  educate  his  eldest  son.  We  leave  the 
latter  to  "  pursue  "  his  preparatory  studies,  and  turn  our 
attention  to  the  little  East  Street  girl  and  her  training  in 
her  childhood's  home. 

Noah  Dickinson  was  a  thrifty  farmer  and  owned  much 
fertile  land  in  the  part  of  the  town  least  settled  at  that 
time.  There  was  no  church  or  common.  Main  street, 
laid  out  around  a  swamp  where  the  First  Congregational 
church  now  stands,  could  show  but  one  dwelling  between 
East  Amherst  and  the  center.  The  Dickinson  house 
was  on  the  South  Amherst  road,  and  here  it  is  sup- 
posed Mary  was  born.  The  family  afterward  lived  in 
the  house  on  Main  street  still  standing  next  to  the 
Adams  house.  Close  by  were  the  tavern  kept  by 
Oliver  Clapp,  and  Aaron  Warner's  house  and  blacksmith 
shop.  The  roads  to  North  Amherst  and  to  Pelham  led 
through  thick  woods.  From  these  sometimes  a  deer 
came  out,  and  off  on  Pelham  hills  wolves  howled  at  night- 


EBENEZER    MATTOON. 


Copy  of  a  mi7iiatJtre  in  the  possession  of  Mrs.  Edith  Wokott  Davis. 


EBENEZER    MATTOON. 

Copy  of  portrait  in  the  possessioji  of  Mrs.  Mary  Mattoon  IVo/rott  Clapp. 


Her  Hero  of  the  Revolution  25 

fall.  The  children  in  those  East  Street  homes  did  not 
need  a  curfew  to  call  them  in  at  an  early  hour,  for  there 
was  no  temptation  to  linger  on  the  dreary  unlighted 
streets.  When  Mary  Dickinson  was  twelve  years  old  her 
father  was  more  prosperous  than  many  of  his  neighbors. 
In  1770  he  owned  2  horses,  3  cows,  2  pigs  and  3  oxen, 
personal  estate  worth  ^15,  6s.,  and  real  estate  worth 
£\2,  15s.,  the  total  being  ;^58,  is.,  for  which  he  was 
taxed.  From  this  we  learn  that  although  not  luxurious, 
the  home  in  which  our  little  girl  lived  until  her  marriage 
was  one  of  comfort.  Her  mother  was  a  thrifty  housewife, 
well  versed  in  all  old  fashioned  arts  and  crafts.  She 
was  her  daughter's  only  teacher  in  all  things  practical 
and  ornamental. 

We  imagine  that  the  school  days  of  the  little  girl  were 
early  ended,  for  from  incidents  in  after  life  we  know  that 
Noah  Dickinson  did  not  care  much  for  education,  and 
in  those  old  days  the  father's  decision  was  law.  An  old 
valley  farmer  said  :  "In  summer  the  girls  ought  to  work 
in  the  kitchen;  in  winter  it  is  too  far  for  them  to  go  to 
school."  Much  learning  for  women  was  considered  a 
dangerous  thing.  Sir  John  Winthrop,  in  his  history  of 
New  England,  written  in  1640,  speaks  of  a  "godly  young 
woman  of  special  parts,  who  has  fallen  into  a  sad  infirm- 
ity, the  loss  of  her  understanding  and  reason,  which  has 
been  growing  on  her  divers  years,  by  occasion  of  reading 
and    writing,  and    had    written  many  books."     It  is  not 


26  Maiy  Mattoon,  and 

probable    that   our   heroine   went    crazy    from   too  much 
study. 

The  New  E ng/ and  Fri frier,  which  Cotton  Mather  called 
"  a  little  watering  pot,"  may  have  encouraged  Mary's 
young  ideas  to  sprout.  Opposite  the  letter  K  she  read 
the  words, 

"  King  Charles  the  good, 
No  man  of  blood." 

After  the  Revolution  her  children  studying  the  Primer, 
found  at  the  letter  K, 

"  Kings  and  queens 
Are  gaudy  things." 

Little  Mary  was  taught  to  make  herself  useful  in  the 
house  and  on  the  farm.  She  was  an  only  child,  and 
therefore  in  many  cases  performed  tasks  usually  allotted 
to  a  farmer's  boy.  These  she  thoroughly  enjoyed,  for 
they  took  her  out  of  doors.  Little  children  in  those 
days  were  employed  in  sowing  seeds  and  in  weeding  the 
flax-fields.  The  three  cows  belonging  to  Noah  Dickin- 
son roamed  the  woods  and  highways,  and  betrayed  their 
hiding  places  by  the  clangor  of  the  bells  about  their 
necks.  Mr.  Judd  quotes,  "Toward  night  the  lowing  herd 
moved  slowly  o'er  the  lea,"  adding,  "  and  came  home. 
Some  needed  the  aid  of  a  driver."  Both  boys  and  girls 
delighted  to  drive  the  cows,  and  Mary  may  have  driven 
for  her  father.  She  fed  the  chickens,  and  hunted  for 
eggs,  and  helped  her  mother  catch   the   geese   and   draw 


Her  Hero  of  the  Revolution  2^ 

long  stockings  over  their  heads,  and  pull  out  the  feathers 
to  make  feather-beds,  and  the  best  quills  to  make  pens. 
Becoming  afterwards  an  energetic  woman,  there  is  no 
doubt  that  as  a  child  she  loved  best  these  out  door  tasks. 
We  hope  she  was  not  made  to  sit  in  stocks,  or  to  wear  a 
harness  or  a  backboard  to  help  her  stand  erect,  but  chil- 
dren in  those  days  were  so  precocious,  so  painfully 
anxious  to  be  good,  that,  being  no  exception  to  the  rule, 
she  did  as  she  was  told. 

Our  little  maiden  learned  to  make  the  hasty  pudding 
for  her  father's  breakfast.  One  or  two  Old  Hadley  fam- 
ilies were  said  to  eat  365  such  puddings  in  a  year,  so 
great  was  their  fondness  for  this  delicacy.  She  learned 
to  knit  her  father's  mittens  and  stockings,  and  to  sew 
his  deerskin  trousers  and  checked  linen  shirts,  and  her 
own  nankeen  pantalets,  which  hung  down  below  her 
frocks  to  the  tops  of  her  stout  leather  shoes.  She  helped 
her  mother  wash  these  shirts,  and  starch  them  with  a 
starch  made  from  potatoes.  In  making  bread,  both  white 
and  brown,  raised  with  yeast  from  the  settlings  in  the 
bottom  of  the  beer-barrel,  she  early  became  expert.  One 
housewife  living  in  the  days  before  the  Revolution  was 
said  to  have  made  "20  large  cheeses  in  a  given  time  from 
the  milk  of  one  cow,  besides  drying  several  bushels  of 
apples."  Her  husband  said  of  her  :  "  She  looketh  well 
to  the  ways  of  her  household,  and  eateth  not  the  bread  of 
idleness.     She    reacheth    forth    her   hand    to   her    needy 


28  Mary  Mattoon  and 

friends  and  neighbors.  I  owe  myliealthto  the  vigilance, 
industry  and  care  of  my  wife.  For  the  constant  assiduity 
and  press  of  her  daily  and  painful  labor  in  the  kitchen, 
the  great  Lord  of  the  Household  w411  reward  her  in  due 
time.''  If  Noah  Dickuison's  "3  cows"  were  each  equal  to 
the  one  owned  by  this  woman,  Mary  and  her  mother  may 
have  made  sixty  "large  cheeses,"  to  say  nothing  of  dried 
apples.  As,  in  addition  to  her  other  virtues,  the  house- 
wife before  mentioned  was  a  "nonesuch  gardener,'^working 
bravely  in  her  garden,"  so  doubtless  our  mother  and  her 
daughter  did  their  share  of  work  among  the  cabbages 
and  turnips. 

Mr.  Judd  says  that  Hadley  women  usually  had  a  little 
plot  of  flowers  in  front  of  their  dwellings.  So  we  love  to 
think  that  Mary,  when  the  duties  of  the  day  were  done, 
weeded  the  sweet-williams  and  marigolds  in  front  of  the 
East  Street  dwelling,  dreaming  the  while  dreams  com- 
mon to  happy  girlhood  the  world  over.  We  certainly 
know  that  there  in  that  old  house  this  Amherst  girl  of 
olden  time  learned  thoroughly  to  weave  and  spin  and 
knit  and  sew.  She  practiced  all  domestic  avocations  so 
cheerfully  and  perfectly  that  in  after  life  she  became  a 
notable  housewife.  Her  famous  husband  was  proud  to 
fill  his  home  with  guests,  that  they  might  taste  the  prod- 
ucts of  her  skill  and  envy  him  the  possession  of  such  a 
domestic  treasure.  But  no  suggestion  of  this  had  entered 
the   mind    of  the   little   girl  whom  we  have  seen  working 


Her  Hero  of  the  Revolution  2g 

among  her  flowers,  and  who,  though  well  grown  in  height, 
was  but  a  child  at  heart. 

Young  Oliver  Clapp  married  Elizabeth  Mattoon,  and 
brought  her  to  live  near  by  in  the  tavern.  Her  brother 
Ebenezer,  fitting  for  college  with  Rev.  David  Parsons, 
sometimes  came  down  to  see  his  sister,  and  to  taste  the 
famous  "  flip  "  for  mixing  which  she  afterward  became 
noted.  It  may  be  that  by  means  of  this  casual  acquaint- 
ance the  child,  Mary  Dickinson,  was  transform.ed  into  a 
woman,  and  the  romance  was  begun  through  which 
Ebenezer  Mattoon  was  to  become  "  her  hero  of  the 
Revolution." 


IV. 


UR  forefathers  considered  it  their  first  duty  to 
Christianize  and  civilize  the  Indians.  The  Rev. 
Eleazer  Wheelock,  sen  of  a  Connecticut  farmer, 
a  graduate  of  Yale  in  1733  and  a  follower  of  Jonathan 
Edwards,  when  settled  in  "  Lebanon  Crank,"  pondered 
this  subject  and  discussed  it  with  his  friend  Whitefield 
and  other  revivalists  of  the  time  of  the  '"great  awakening." 
To  eke  out  his  meager  salary  Mr.  Wheelock  devoted 
part  of  his  leisure  to  preparing  boys  for  college.     Samson 


JO  Mary  Mattoon  and 

Occum,  a  Mohegan  Indian  from  the  tribe  near  New  Lon- 
don, was  received  as  a  pupil  into  his  home.  This  associ- 
ation deepened  his  interest  in  the  subject  of  Indian  edu- 
cation, and  he  conceived  the  idea  of  removing  Indian  chil- 
dren from  their  unciviUzed  surroundings,  and  educating 
them  with  English  youth,  that  they  might  become  mission- 
aries to  their  own  people.  Through  manifold  exertions 
Mr.  Wheelock  established  "  The  Indian  Charity  School 
in  America,"  near  the  present  site  of  Willimantic.  Joseph 
Brant,  the  brother  of  Sir  William  Johnson's  Indian  wife, 
was  a  pupil.  Whitefield  provided  a  schoolhouse.  Ben- 
edict Arnold  sent  a  gift  of  money.  Walter  Scott  of  Edin- 
burgh sent  five  dollars.  To  reach  the  distant  tribes,  how- 
ever, it  was  necessary  to  remove  into  the  Indian  country. 
Wheelock  applied  for  land  on  the  Susquehanna,  and  made 
desperate  attempts  to  secure  a  permanent  location  and  a 
charter.  Samson  Occum,  the  Indian,  who  had  developed 
a  genius  for  preaching,  was  sent  to  England  to  raise 
money  for  the  school.  He  preached  in  London  before  the 
king,  and  through  England  and  Scotland,  and  in  John 
Wesley's  foundry,  and  the  power  of  his  eloquence  secured 
generous  gifts. 

Governors  of  the  different  states,  upon  whom  he  had 
unsuccessfully  urged  the  claims  of  his  project  before  a 
fund  had  been  obtained,  now  were  willing  to  listen  to 
Wheelock's  plans.  The  definite  promise  of  a  charter  in 
New  Hampshire,  however,  decided  the  matter.     Ex-Gov- 


Hei^  Hero  of  the  Rcvohitioii  ji 

ernor  Wentworth  conveyed  to  the  trustees  his  "500  acre 
lott "  in  the  southwest  corner  of  Hanover.  In  Httle 
more  than  six  weeks  the  Rev.  Eleazer  Wheelock  had 
taken  up  his  abode  upon  this  "lott,"  in  a  cabin  in  the 
wilderness.  The  site  of  the  prospective  college  in  1770 
is  thus  described  :  ''-  A  choice  tract  of  land  of  more  than 
3300  acres,  which  butts  upon  the  Falls  in  the  river,  called 
White  River  Falls,  and  is  the  only  place  convenient  for  a 
bridge  across  the  Connecticut  river,  it  being  but  8  rods 
wide,  with  well  elevated  rocks  for  abutments  on  each  side 
and  on  a  straight  line  from  Portsmouth  to  Crown  Point, 
to  which  is  a  good  road."  From  this  place,  described  by 
a  disappointed  claimant  as  "  a  town  where  boards  can't 
be  sawed  or  bread  raised,"  Wheelock  joyfully  sent  out 
this  advertisement,  Aug.  23,  1770:  "My  Indian  Charity 
school  is  now  become  a  body  corporate  and  politic,  under 
the  name  of  Dartmouth  College." 

Sept.  16,  1770,  Madam  Wheelock  and  family,  riding  in 
an  English  coach,  accompanied  by  a  party  of  students  on 
foot,  set  out  from  Lebanon  on  their  arduous  journey  into 
the  New  Hampshire  wilderness.  They  passed  through 
the  Connecticut  valley,  fording  the  rivers  and  making  a 
path  with  the  greatest  difficulty  through  the  woods.  They 
reached  their  destination  safely.  Madam  Wheelock  found 
her  future  home  to  be  a  log  cabin  built  without  stone, 
brick,  glass  or  nails,  and  furnished  with  beds  made  of 
hemlock  boughs.     This  home  was  located  in  the  midst  of 


J 2  Alary  Ala t toon  and 

one  thousand  acres  of  white  pine  forest.  The  rocky 
knob  on  which  the  observatory  now  stands  was  densely 
covered  with  trees  of  hard  wood,  and  the  ground  was 
hidden  w^ith  a  thick  carpet  of  moss.  The  southeast  por- 
tion of  the  tract  was  a  hemlock  swamp.  The  historian 
says  :  "  A  more  solitary  and  romantic  situation  can  sel- 
dom be  found.  The  howling  of  wild  beasts  and  the 
plaintive  notes  of  the  owl  greatly  added  to  the  gloominess 
of  the  night  season."  The  heart  of  Madam  Wheelock 
may  have  failed  her,  but  the  fact  is  not  recorded. 

A  terrible  plague  of  worms  had  destroyed  the  crops 
the  preceding  summer,  leaving  nothing  but  pumpkins, 
on  which  the  pioneers  mostly  subsisted,  their  other  scanty 
provisions  having  to  be  carried  from  Northfield  and 
Northampton,  through  snow  which  for  months  that  first 
season  was  four  feet  deep.  June  12,  1772,  ice  formed  an 
inch  thick  by  the  college  door.  The  work  of  education, 
however,  went  bravely  on.  The  first  commencement  grad- 
uated a  class  of  four.  The  exercises  were  held  in  the  open 
air,  on  a  platform  of  logs,  ascended  by  a  single  hemlock 
plank.  Scorning  this  primitive  stage,  one  of  the  Indian 
students  delivered  an  oration  in  his  native  language  from 
the  bough  of  an  overhanging  pine  tree. 

We  do  not  know  why  Ebenezer  Mattoon  of  Hadley 
Third  Precinct,  having  finished  his  preparation  with  Rev. 
David  Parsons,  ignored  the  claims  of  Harvard  and  Yale, 
and  selected  this  new  college  in  the   northern    woods   for 


Her  Hero  of  the  Revolution  jj 

his  Alma  Mater.  The  fact  that  another  Amherst  boy 
David  Kellogg,  son  of  Daniel  Kellogg,  was  already  a 
student  in  the  institution,  having  entered  in  the  class  of 
1775,  indicates  that  through  him  word  may  have  come  to 
town  of  the  advantages  at  Dartmouth.  There  is  no  doubt 
that  our  candidate  was  well  prepared  according  to  the 
standard  of  those  days.  On  horseback  and  alone,  a  boy 
of  seventeen,  he  made  the  journey,  and  in  company  with 
ten  Indians  from  Canada  entered  the  class  of  1776. 

That  winter  also  food  v*^as  scarce,  and  much  had  to  be 
transported  more  than  one  hundred  miles.  So  urgent 
was  the  need  for  fodder,  which  had  to  be  brought  forty 
miles  on  sleds  by  oxen,  that  President  Wheelock,  as  Jus- 
tice of  the  Peace,  gave  men  a  warrant  to  travel  on  Sunday. 
In  the  intervals  of  study  the  students  were  expected  to 
work  upon  the  farm.  They  paid  for  board  6s.  6d.  each 
week,  and  provided  their  own  utensils,  buying  all  needed 
articles  in  a  general  store  in  one  of  the  buildings.  The 
college  boys  cut  logs,  which  were  floated  down  the  river 
to  Springfield,  where  they  were  sold,  and  thus  the  scanty 
income  of  the  institution  was  increased. 

The  president  of  the  college  was  revered  by  all,  and 
exercised  over  his  students  a  truly  parental  authority.  In 
1773  the  roof  of  his  log  house  became  so  leaky  that  rain 
came  through  upon  his  papers.  "  E.  Mattoon,"  now  a 
sophomore,  volunteered  to  help  build  the  new  house. 
In  after  life  he  told  how  the  frames,  made  of  heavy  tim- 
3 


j^  Mary  Mattoon  and 

bers,  were  raised  with  a  united  effort.  One  of  these 
came  very  near  falhng,  and  those  beneath  held  it  until 
help  came,  though  blood  was  forced  from  their  nostrils. 

A  certain  John  Ledyard  of  Hartford  entered  college 
with  young  Mattoon,  driving  to  Hanover  in  a  sulky,  on 
which  he  transported  a  quantity  of  cloth,  and  other  para- 
phernalia of  the  theatre,  that  he  might  indulge  his  fond- 
ness for  "play-acting,"  while  fitting  himself  to  be  a  mis- 
sionary to  the  Indians.  There  was  no  college  bell,  and 
the  freshmen  were  obliged  to  take  turns  in  blowing  on  a 
conch  shell  to  call  the  students  together.  Ledyard  con- 
sidered this  duty  degrading  and  ran  away,  only  to  return 
and  try  again,  but  his  haughty  spirit  could  not  endure  the 
ordeal  to  which  he  was  subjected.  Mattoon,  always  ready 
for  anything  exciting,  helped  Ledyard  fell  one  of  the 
^enormous  pines  on  the  river  bank,  and  from  it  they  dug 
-out  a  canoe  fifty  feet  long  and  three  feet  wide.  Together 
they  built  a  shelter  of  willow  twigs  in  one  end  of  the 
boat  and  confiscated  a  bear  skin  and  some  venison. 
Then,  seeing  his  friend  supplied  with  a  copy  of  Ovid  and 
a  Greek  testament,  Mattoon  cheerfully  helped  him  launch 
upon  the  stream,  which  bore  him  through  the  wilderness 
to  Hartford,  one  hundred  and  forty  miles  below.  Our 
hero,  though  quite  willing  to  assist  another  in  this  fool- 
hardy enterprise,  was  not  tempted  to  embark  himself. 
He  was  in  college  for  quite  another  purpose,  although 
perfectly  willing  to  engage  in  any  kind  of  labor. 


Her  Hero  of  the  Revohition  J5 

In  1839,  when  a  blind  old  man,  General  Mattoon  visited 
Dartmouth  College,  and  desired  to  be  led  to  the  river- 
bank,  that  he  might  lay  his  hands  upon  the  stump  from 
which  he  helped  to  cut  the  tree  more  than  sixty-five  years 
before.  The  pathetic  scene  was  long  remembered  and  is 
mentioned  in  the  history  of  the  college. 

In  1774  Dartmouth  possessed  a  library  and  a  college 
hall,  and  other  improvements  were  soon  added.  This 
year  Ebenezer  received  a  legacy  of  ^53,  6s.,  8d.,  from 
Nathaniel  Smith,  his  maternal  grandfather,  and  this  no 
doubt  assisted  him  to  pay  his  college  expenses.  We 
find  no  record  as  to  his  standing  among  his  classmates, 
but  believe  that  he  studied,  as  he  did  everything  else, 
faithfully  and  well.  The  Indian  students,  however,  were 
not  agreeable  companions.  We  read  :  "  They  interrupted 
our  studies.  They  were  still  no  longer  than  the  school 
lasted,  and  all  the  rest  of  the  time  they  were  hollowing 
and  making  all  manner  of  noise." 


DARTMOUTH  college  was  dependent  upon  supplies 
from  England,  but  in  spite  of  this  fact  President 
Wheelock  and  the  students  sympathized  heartily 
with  the  growing  desire  for  independence  on  the  part  of 


S6  Mary  Mattoon  and 

the  colonies.  We  do  not  know  how  many  times  Ebenezer 
Mattoon  went  home  during  his  four  college  years,  or  how 
much  he  heard  of  the  committee  of  correspondence 
appointed  in  Amherst,  and  of  the  preparations  for  war. 
The  Rev.  David  Parsons  may  have  attempted  to  instill 
his  Tory  doctrines  into  the  boy's  mind  while  teaching 
him  Latin  and  Greek.  That  he  completely  failed  in  this 
is  proved  by  the  fact  that  when  young  Ebenezer  did 
come  home,  in  April,  1775,  and  the  news  came  of  the 
Lexington  alarm,  he  hastened  to  enlist  as  a  private  in 
Captain  Dickinson's  company,  and  spent  part  of  his 
vacation  in  Cambridge  with  the  soldiers.  Those  were 
exciting  times  for  the  ardent  young  patriot,  who,  though 
not  engaged  in  any  battles,  yet  lived  for  a  month  in  an 
atmosphere  of  war.  Lieutenant  Noah  Dickinson,  farther 
of  Mar}^,  also  led  a  company  to  Cambridge  at  the  time 
of  the  alarm.  Though  the  minute-men  were  soon  dis- 
banded, many  of  them  returned  home  only  to  enlist  for  a 
longer  time.  Ebenezer,  the  father,  went  with  Captain 
Dickinson  to  Lexington,  and  was  gone  eleven  days. 
Another  company  commanded  by  Captain  Reuben  Dick- 
inson is  said  to  have  been  in  the  battle  of  Bunker  Hill, 
though  not  in  the  intrenchments.  We  wonder  that  after 
having  had  a  taste  of  army  life,  our  college  boy  returned 
at  all  to  Dartmouth,  and  we  honor  the  determination 
which  led  him  back  into  those  northern  woods  to  finish 
his  course. 


Her  Hero  of  the  Revolutio7t  jy 

An  old  resident  of  Amherst  remembers  hearing  Gen- 
eral Mattoon,  in  the  last  years  of  his  life,  say  :  "  They  tell 
me  that  the  days  of  the  Revolution  tried  men's  souls,  but  I 
say  that  they  tried  the  souls  of  women  also."  The  truth 
of  this  became  apparent  even  in  the  beginning  of  the 
conflict.  The  peaceful  life  in  Amherst  homes  was  now  at 
an  end,  and  all  the  best  and  bravest  men  were  hurrying  to 
Boston.  Upon  the  boys  and  women  devolved  the  support 
of  the  families  left  behind.  When  we  consider  the  hard 
work  required  to  carry  on  a  household  in  those  primitive 
times,  we  feel  increased  respect  for  the  heroic  women  who 
toiled  in  the  fields  with  the  cattle,  that  the  men  might 
fight  for  the  freedom  of  the  land.  It  is  probable  that 
Ebenezer  Mattoon  renewed  his  acquaintance  with  Mary 
Dickinson  during  that  summer  of  1775,  but  of  this  we 
know  nothing.  He  returned  to  college,  and  continued 
his  studies  until  the  spring  of  1776,  his  senioryear.  We 
read  Mattoon's  own  words  as  follows  : 

"  In  the  spring  of  '76,  after  examination  for  degrees, 
I  obtained  permission  of  the  faculty  to  go  to  Canada  and 
engage  in  the  Revolutionary  Army,  receiving  a  promise 
that  our  degrees  should  be  regularly  conferred.  Soon 
after  my  arrival  in  Canada,  I  received  a  lieutenant's  com- 
mission and  performed  the  duties  of  an  adjutant  for  that 
year.  The  next  year  I  was  lieutenant  in  the  artillery  in 
the  northern  campaign,  and  was  in  St.  Clair's  retreat  from 
Ticonderoga  and  in  the  hard-fought  battles  and  capture 
of  Burgoyne.  Continuing  in  the  army  I  was  in  the  battle 
fought  by  General  Sullivan  on  Rhode  Island." 


j8  Mary  Mat  toon  and 

This  outline  of  his  three  years  service  as  an  officer  in 
the  Revolution  is  supplemented  by  the  details  of  his 
application  for  a  pension,  which  he  made  in  1830,  when, 
seventy-six  years  old,  for  about  thirteen  years  he  had  been 
totally  blind.  This  application  tells  us  that  he  served  but 
four  months  as  a  private,  and  that  at  the  close  of  the 
campaign  he  returned  to  Ticonderoga,  where  he  was  dis- 
charged. After  he  came  home  he  was  chosen  lieutenant 
in  the  state  militia.  He  enlisted  again  in  the  army  April 
I,  1777,  as  lieutenant,  and  after  the  retreat  of  General 
St.  Clair,  of  which  he  speaks,  he  was  detached  into  Cap- 
tain Furnald's  company  of  artillery,  where  he  served  dur- 
ing the  rest  of  the  campaign.  He  returned  to  Amherst 
Jan.  I,  1778,  after  Burgoyne's  capture.  In  April,  1778, 
he  again  enlisted  as  lieutenant,  and  with  forty  men 
marched  to  Providence,  where  he  joined  Captain  Lamb's 
Company,  of  Colonel  Wade's  regiment.  He  continued 
with  that  division  until  discharged  in  January,  1779. 
One  month  in  Cambridge  and  four  months  in  Canada  as 
a  private  soldier,  two  years  and  three  months  as  a  lieu- 
tenant in  1776,  1777  and  1778,  is  the  record  of  his  ser- 
vice. His  commission  as  adjutant  was  signed  by  Lieu- 
tenant Colonel  Wait.  His  other  commissions,  all  of 
which  are  lost, were  granted  by  the  state  and  were  signed 
by  the  council. 

Ebenezer  Mattoon  came  home  to  Amherst  in  January, 
1779,  a  veteran  of  the  Revolution  at  the  age   of  twenty- 


Her  Hero  of  the  Revolution  jg 

three.     He  told  the  story  of  the  battle  of  Saratoga  with 
the  authority  of  one  who  knew  whereof  he  spoke,  and 
he  settled  once  for  all  the  disputed  point  as  to  who  killed 
General  Frazier.     The    names    of  General   Lincoln    and 
Benedict   Arnold   were  often  on  his  lips.     The  diploma 
granted  by  Dartmouth  would  ordinarily  have    caused    its 
owner   to   be    respected    as  a  college  graduate,  but  the 
importance  of  this  was  entirely  overshadowed  by  the  lieu- 
tenant's commission  which   the  young  soldier  bore,  and 
by   the    glory    of  his    achievements  in  the  northern  cam- 
paign.    Many   Amherst   men   had  been   in  the  war,  and 
many  were  still  fighting,  but  none  so  young  had  made  so 
brillant  a  record.     The  story  of  the  surrender  of  Burgoyne, 
as  witnessed   by    Lieutenant   Mattoon,   was   many   times 
repeated    by   the    youthful    officer      His  account  of  the 
battle  may  be  found  in  the  Hartford  CouraJit,  of  Jan.  ii, 
1836.     As  long  as  he  lived,  General  Mattoon  took  delight 
in  repeating  the  fact  that,  obeying    orders   from    General 
Gates,  he  rode  from  Amherst  to  Springfield  on  a  Sunday, 
and  conveyed  several  cannon  from  the  arsenal   to    where 
they-  did  good  service  on  the  battle-field  of  Saratoga.     He 
returned    to    Amherst   not    only  covered  with  glory,  but 
bearing   on  his   face  some  indications  of  small-pox,   an 
unseen   enemy  met  and   conquered   amid  the  rigors  of  a 
Canadian  winter. 

After  the  capture  of  Burgoyne,  the  Americans  replaced 
their  old-fashioned  cannon  with  the   modern   guns   taken 


^(9  Majy  Mattoon  and 

from  the  enemy,  and  the  former  were  given  to  officers  in 
the  army.  An  old  iron  field-piece,  a  six  pounder,  fell  to 
the  share  of  Lieutenant  Mattoon,  who  brought  it  home 
as  a  souvenir.  These  cannon,  furnished  in  early  days  to 
the  colonists  by  England,  had  done  good  service  in  the 
French  and  Indian  war.  It  is  quite  possible  that  this 
venerable  relic,  so  long  the  chief  feature  of  Fourth-of-JuIy 
celebrations  in  East  Street,  in  ages  past  may  have  per- 
formed its  part  in  winning  some  of  England's  famous 
victories. 

Lieutenant  Ebenezer  Mattoon,  in  his  worn  continental 
uniform,  bringing  home  the  historic  cannon  as  a  relic  for 
the  town,  received  a  hearty  welcome  from  his  neighbors 
and  friends.  To  the  boys  crowding  about  he  told  how 
his  squad  was  encamped  on  one  side  of  a  small  stream, 
and  his  men  watched  the  British  on  the  other  side  cook- 
ing their  evening  meal  in  a  kettle  over  the  camp  fire.  A 
gun  was  fired  at  the  kettle,  sending  its  contents  flying  in 
every  direction,  thus  giving  the  redcoats  a  surprise. 
Again,  near  Saratoga,  he  found  himself  with  a  small  party 
greatly  outnumbered  by  the  enemy.  Instead  of  surren- 
dering at  their  command,  he  ordered  his  only  gun  fired 
thirteen  times  in  succession,  and  thus  cut  his  way  through 
to  safety.  Many  stories  like  these  he  delighted  to  tell  in 
after  years,  and  persons  are  living  to-day  who  remember 
how  his  eyes  would  twinkle,  and  how  he  would  shake 
with  laughter,  as  he  described  his  youthful  antics. 


Her  Hero  of  the  Revohition  41 

About  the  time  of  his  discharge,  some  artist  painted  a 
miniature  of  the  young  lieutenant  in  uniform.  The 
picture  is  owned  to-day  by  his  great-granddaughter,  Mrs. 
Edith  Wolcott  Davis.  It  came  to  her  through  her  mother, 
Mrs.  Wolcott,  who  had  received  it  from  her  mother,  Mary 
Mattoon  Dwight,  the  daughter  of  the  General,  v/ho  lived 
with  him  for  many  years  in  East  Amherst.  The  copy  of 
the  picture  shows  us  the  young  soldier  as  he  appeared 
about  1779,  '^'^  ^^^^  most  interesting  time,  when,  as  he 
says,  he  "left  the  army,  returned  to  Amherst,  and  was 
married  to  Mary  Dickinson." 


VI. 


THE  Rev.  David  Parsons  had  become  so  bitter  a 
Tory  that  we  are  not  surprised  to  find  no  record 
of  the  marriage  in  his  handwriting.  The  ardent 
young  patriot  would  hardly  go  to  him  for  such  a  service. 
The  ceremony  may  have  been  performed  by  a  magistrate 
as  was  customary.  It  may  be  that  Mary  Dickinson  put 
on  her  poke-bonnet,  mounted  her  Narragansett  pacer, 
and  rode  over  to  Hadley  or  Northampton,  there  to  become 
Mary  Mattoon.  Her  husband  paid  6s.  as  the  wedding 
fee.  We  know  that  the  marriage  was  July  8,  1779. 
The  bride's  heart  must  have  swelled  with  pride,   as  she 


^2  Mary  Mattoon  and 

realized  that  her  hero  had  not  forgotten  her  through  all 
the  vicissitudes  of  college  and  army  life,  and  had  come 
back  to  make  her  his  wife,  and  to  settle  down  upon  an 
Amherst  farm.  She  was  at  this  time  twenty-one  and  he 
was  twenty-four.  Her  grandchildren  remember  her  in 
middle  life  as  tall  and  straight  and  slim,  with  large  blue 
eyes  and  jet  black  hair.  From  this  w^e  can  imagine  how 
the  bride  appeared  upon  her  wedding  day. 

Members  of  the  family  believe  that  on  the  occasion  of 
her  marriage  Noah  Dickinson  gave  his  daughter  the  East 
Street  farm.  This  may  be  possible,  though  no  deed  of 
gift  can  be  found.  Whether,  if  this  be  true,  the  house 
in  which  she  and  her  husband  afterward  lived  was  then 
standing,  and  the  young  couple  took  up  their  abode  there 
at  once,  we  cannot  determine.  It  is  probable  that 
they  found  somewhere  a  temporary  home,  and  that  the 
bridegroom  built  the  mansion  which,  with  its  wide  spread- 
ing wings  on  either  side,  was  for  many  years  the  most 
pretentious  house  in  town.  Here  for  the  remainder  of 
her  life  Mary  Mattoon  devoted  herself  to  her  husband 
and  his  interests,  in  her  quiet,  unobtrusive  way,  furnish- 
ing the  foundation  upon  which  rested  his  social  and 
political  success.  She  was  the  power  wdthin  the  home,  a 
type  of  the  New  England  matron  of  the  olden  time, 
whose  descendants  rise  up  and  call  her  blessed. 

We  find  that  Ebenezer  Mattoon  had  a  license  as  a 
'*  retailer,"  so  he  may  have  assisted  Oliver  Clapp  in  his 


Her  Hero  of  the  Revolution  4 J 

tavern.  He  was  a  member  of  a  committee  to  lay  out 
highways,  and  travelled  about  old  Hampshire  County 
choosing  locations  for  the  roads  which  now  connect  the 
valley  towns  and  over  many  of  which  we  hear  the  whizz 
of  trolley  cars.  Our  soldier  farmer  was  also  a  school- 
teacher. About  1862  his  granddaughter,  Mrs.  Wolcott, 
was  visiting  in  Goshen,  and  there  met  a  very  old  man, 
who  had  been  in  his  boyhood  a  pupil  of  General  Mattoon. 
He  told  her  that  as  a  master  the  General  thoroughly 
commanded  the  respect  of  his  pupils  and  was  very  popu- 
lar with  them,  entering  into  their  sports,  and  showing 
much  ingenuity  in  suggesting  new  games.  When  play- 
time ended  he  was  again  the  teacher.  As  he  was  obeyed 
by  his  soldiers  so  was  he  by  the  boys  in  the  district 
school.  Wherever  M^e  find  him  he  appears  as  a  leader,, 
whom  many  were  ready  to  follow. 

The  square  white  house  embowered  in  trees,  now  the 
home  of  its  owner,  Olney  P.  Gaylord,  presented  a  very 
different  appearance  when  Mary  Mattoon  presided  within 
its  precincts.  The  year  after  her  marriage  her  husband 
had  been  called  to  represent  the  town  in  the  General 
Court,  and  in  1782  he  was  made  a  Justice  of  the  Peace. 
This  office  he  held  until  1796.  From  the  rank  of  Cap- 
tain he  had  risen  to  be  Major,  Colonel,  Brigadier-General 
and  Major-General  of  the  4th  Division  Militia  of  the 
Commonwealth.  Many  unexpected  honors  had  been 
bestowed  upon  him.     In  1792  he  had  been    a  member  of 


44  Mary  Mat  toon  and 

the  electoral  college  for  the  re-election  of  Washington, 
and  in  1796  he  had  assisted  in  the  election  of  Adams. 
This  same  year  he  was  appointed  Sheriff  of  old  Hampshire 
County,  which  then  included  nearly  the  whole  of  Western 
Massachusetts. 

Thus,  seventeen  years  after  her  marriage,  we  find  our 
heroine  the  wife  of  the  most  distinguished  man  in 
Amherst,  and  mistress  of  a  mansion  second  to  none  in 
size  and  elegance  of  furniture  and  adornment.  The 
maples  planted  by  the  bridegroom  shaded  the  portico 
from  the  western  sun.  Commodious  parlors  situated  on 
either  side  of  the  square  front  hall  accommodated  the 
family  and  the  transient  guests.  In  the  center  of  the 
house  was  the  great  stone  chimne}^,  with  capacious  fire- 
places, which  devoured  great  logs  of  oak  and  maple  and 
ever  yawned  for  more.  The  common  living  room,  which 
extended  nearly  the  length  of  the  house,  was  also  the 
workroom  in  which  the  spinning-wheel  of  the  mistress 
sang  its  daily  song,  and  in  the  convenient  kitchen  at  the 
back  of  the  house  the  deep  brick  oven  sent  forth  the 
products  of  her  skill.  The  porch  in  the  rear  commanded 
a  view  of  Pelham  hills. 

On  each  side  of  the  house  was  built  a  wing,  each  con- 
taining a  single  room,  that  on  the  south  being  used  for  a 
parlor,  while  the  one  on  the  north  served  as  a  dining 
room.  Each  of  these  state  apartments  required  about 
fifty  yards  of  carpet  to  cover  its  floor.     Of  the  method  of 


Her  Hero  of  the  Revolution  ^5 

making  carpets  by  sewing  together  and  then  weaving 
strips  of  new  woollen  cloth  left  from  the  men's  clothing, 
a  former  resident  of  old  Hadley  writes  :  "  The  older  girls 
assisted  in  spinning  the  warjD  ....  Mother  com- 
menced to  color  the  yarn  green,  red,  blue,  yellow  and 
some  black,  for  the  beauty  of  the  carpet  depended  upon 
the  yarn,  as  the  cloth  which  we  cut  and  sewed  together 
only  served  for  filling."  "  Mother  "  would  then  arrange 
the  threads  in  the  "  harness  and  reed,"  in  such  a  manner 
"  that  all  the  colors  were  thrown  on  the  top  and  made  a 
very  handsome  stripe."  So  possibly  the  carpets  in  the 
state  dining  room  and  parlor  of  the  Mattoon  house  were 
made  by  "  mother  "  and  "the  girls,"  though  they  may 
have  been  brought  from  abroad. 

Mrs.  Bardwell,  great-granddaughter  of  Elizabeth  Mat- 
toon  who  married  Oliver  Clapp,  writes  thus  concerning 
the  old  house : 

"  I  think  there  Vv^as  no  home  in  western  Massachusetts 
conducted  with  more  style  than  General  Mattoon's  pre- 
vious to  the  time  when  he  lost  his  eyesight.  I  well  remem- 
ber the  old  dining  room  with  its  carved  woodwork,  and 
its  large  sideboard  on  which  ahvays  stood  two  decanters 
with  their  glasses,  well  filled  according  to  the  customs 
of  those  days."  The  sideboard  mentioned  may  now  be 
seen  in  the  home  of  Joseph  M.  Kellogg. 

Opening  from  the  dining  room  were  wine  closets  with 
loaded  shelves,  which  contributed  to  the  sideboard  when 


46  Mary  Mat  to  on  and 

occasion  required.  A  china  closet  near  at  hand  contained 
the  quaint  tea  set  now  owned  by  Mrs.  Lane,  and  other 
valuable  dishes.  Thirty-six  dining  chairs  stood  ready 
for  the  guests,  and  three  dozen  knives  and  forks  and 
plates,  with  fourteen  silver  teaspoons  and  six  tablespoons, 
proved  Mistress  Mattoon  to  have  been  well  provided  with 
luxurious  table  furnishings.  In  the  house  were  five  "  fall 
leaf  tables  "  and  nine  looking-glasses,  and  some  of  these 
may  have  been  in  the  dining  room.  There  is  no  doubt 
but  that  the  "6  Decanters,  12  wine  glasses  and  i  demi- 
jon  "  of  which  we  have  record,  were  in  the  wine  closet 
ready  for  instant  use. 

At  one  end  of  the  state  parlor,  separated  from  each 
other  by  a  window,  were  hung  two  large  and  expensive 
mirrors  in  gilt  frames.  This  room  contained  one  "  sopha," 
and  chairs  with  long  legs  and  stuffed  seats.  One  of  these, 
together  with  a  card  table  and  a  chest  for  linen,  is  owned 
by  Miss  Conkey  of  Amherst.  Upon  the  wall  hung  two 
pictures,  a  "  Washington  family  Picture,"  and  "  The  death 
of  Gen.  Wolf."  Some  of  the  "  4  pr  brass  hand  Irons  " 
in  the  house  may  have  been  in  the  fire-place,  and  possibly 
the  "  50  vol  of  books  "  owned  by  the  General  were  in  a 
bookcase  on  the  wall.  Three  card  tables  stood  ready  for 
the  evening  game  of  whist. 

The  seventeen  years  that  had  passed  since  Ebenezer 
Mattoon  married  Mary  Dickinson  brought  to  their  home 
six  children,  two  of  whom  died  in  their  infancy.     In  the 


Her  Hero  of  the  Revohctiou  ^y 

West  cemeter}'  we  find  two  little  graves  with  these 
inscriptions  : 

"  In  memory  of  Fanny  E.  daughter  of  Ebenezer  Mat- 
toon,  Jr.  and  Mrs.  Mary  Mattoon  who  died  January  ye 
28,  An  Don  1790,  in  the  2nd  year  of  her  age  :" 

"  In  memory  of  Fanny  Mattoon  2nd,  daughter  of  Eben- 
ezer Mattoon  Jr.  Esq.  and  M.  C.  and  Mary  Mattoon,  who 
died  Sep  ye  i,  1792,  in  the  3rd  year  of  her  age." 

The  eldest  daughter,  Mary  Dickinson,    born    April    4, 

1780,  was  but  eighteen  months  old  when   September    29, 

1 78 1,  Ebenezer,  3d.,  appeared  upon  the  scene.  Two 
more  years  elapsed,  and  Noah  Dickinson,  named  from  the 
grandfather,  was  added  to  the  little  family,  and  two  more 
years  brought  Dorothy  Smith,  the  namesake  of  the  wife  of 
Dr.  Nathaniel  Smith.  If  little  "  Fanny  "  and  "  Fanny 
2nd  "  had  not  died,  there  would  have  been  living  six  chil- 
dren under  ten  years  of  age. 

We  know  that  the  death  of  these  two  babies  brought 
deepest  sorrow  to  the  mother's  heart.  We  can  imagine 
that  her  time  was  fully  occupied  during  these  first  few 
years,  and  that  she  had  ample  opportunity  to  put  into 
practice  all  the  lessons  in  housewifery  which  she  had 
learned  before  her  marriage.  Her  husband,  though  in 
comfortable  circumstances,  was  not  rich.  It  is  said  that 
he  was  a  successful  farmer,  but  it  is  hard  to  see  what 
time  he  had  to  be  a  farmer  at  all.  He  bought  of  Noah 
Dickinson  fifty  additional  acres  of  land,  and  straightway 
accepted  numerous  public  ofiices  which  called  him  off  to 


4^  Mary  Mattoon  and 

Boston.  He  seemed  to  feel  quite  sure  that  the  mistress 
at  Iiome  would  run  the  farm,  pay  the  hired  help,  and 
look  after  all  the  children,  and  protect  his  interests. 
His  confidence  was  not  misplaced,  for  Mary  did  all 
this  and  more.  Wolves  were  common  in  Amherst  as 
late  as  1787,  but  Ebenezer's  sheep  were  not  molested. 
Crovv^s  and  blackbirds  were  a  nuisance  to  the  farmer,  but 
Ebenezer's  corn  was  not  pulled  up.  The  master  was 
doubtless  abroad  on  public  business  when  the  bear  was 
killed  in  Hadley  and  drawn  through  the  streets  on  a  load 
of  corn,  but  the  mistress  was  in  charge  at  home,  and  no 
bear,  real  or  imaginary,  disturbed  the  family  or  farm  of 
Ebenezer  Mattoon,  Jr.,  Esq.  and  M.  C.  Five  years  before, 
in  1 79 1,  Mary  had  lost  the  mother  who  had  been  her 
close  companion  during  her  girlhood.  Ten  months  later 
her  father  had  married  "Seusanah  "  Ward,  and  nov/  in 
1796  she  had  a  little  half-brother,  Jonathan.  Thus 
changes  had  taken  place  in  her  immediate  family,  while 
other  important  events  were  occurring  throughout  the 
town. 


VII. 


UNTIL  the  death  of  Rev.  David  Parsons,  the  Tory 
minister,  those    who    had  won  the  battles  in  the 
Revolution  had  listened  with  what  patience  they 
could  to  his  preaching.     When  he  died,  and  it  was  found 


Her  Hero  of  the  Revolution  ^g 

that  many  in  the  church  favored  the  settlement  over  the 
church  of  his  son  David  Parsons,  as  rank  a  Tory  as  him- 
self, Ebenezer  Mattoon  felt  that  this  could  not  be  allowed. 
He  invited  those  who  sympathized  with  him  in  this  feel- 
ing to  meet  in  his  East  Street  home  to  discuss  the  matter. 
Nov.  12,  1782,  twenty-two  "aggrieved  brethren,"  known 
as  "  Captain  Mattoon's  Council,"  met  and  organized  the 
Second  Church  of  Amherst.  Ebenezer  Mattoon  was 
clerk  and  treasurer  for  the  first  year.  A  special  commit- 
tee measured  from  every  man's  door  to  find  the  center  of 
the  parish,  decided  on  a  spot  about  in  the  middle  of  the 
common,  southeast  of  where  the  present  church  stands, 
and  provided  a  barrel  of  rum  and  other  refreshments  for 
the  raising.  November,  1783,  the  meeting-house  was 
finished.  The  first  religious  service  was  held  Feb.  15, 
1784,  and  the  next  year  Rev.  Ichabod  Draper  became  the 
pastor.  Obedient  doubtless  to  the  wish  of  her  husband, 
Aug.  28,  1785,  Mary  Mattoon  marshalled  her  little  flock, 
Mary  and  Ebenezer,  Noah  Dickinson  and  Dorothy  Smith, 
over  to  the  church,  and  there  together  they  were  baptized. 
The  baby  Dorothy  was  at  this  time  but  two  months  old. 
There  were  now  five  taverns  and  eight  rum  sellers  in 
Amherst  and  it  would  seem  that  two  churches  were  none 
too  many. 

Until  disabled  by  age  and  infirmity  Ebenezer  Mattoon 
never  failed  to    serve  the  church  which  he  had  founded. 
As  parish  committee  year  after  year  he  kept  the   parson 
4 


§0  Mary  Mattoo7i  a7id 

from  freezing  by  carrying  out  the  directions  of  the  town 
fathers  regarding  his  wood.  In  1809  he  was  the  moder- 
ator of  the  meeting  which  voted  ''that  it  is  of  the  opinion 
of  this  parish  that  the  Rev.  Mr.  Draper's  Infirmities  are 
such  as  to  render  him  in  a  great  measure  Incapable  of 
performing  his  ministerial  Duties."  He  also  acted  as 
chairman  of  the  committee  which  waited  on  Mr.  Draper 
to  inform  him  of  this  vote,  with  instructions  that  they 
w^ould  pay  him  salary  and  wood  for  a  stated  time,  if  he 
would  leave  at  once.  On  almost  every  page  of  the  old 
record  books  the  name  of  Ebenezer  Mattoon  appears. 
In  1801  he  w^as  a  member  of  the  "  Comity  "  to  examine 
the  old  "  meating-house  "  with  a  view  to  repairs,  and  again 
in  1806  he  presided  when  the  question  "to  see  if  the 
parish  will  repair  the  meating-house  by  painting  it  over 
again  "  was  discussed.  It  was  not  his  fault  that  this  was 
^'  negatived.''  He  assisted  when  they  raised  the  sum  of 
$30  for  "Musick,"  and  also  when  the  church  bought  a 
bass  viol  and  "  mended  the  same."  In  fact  he  followed 
in  his  father's  footsteps,  and  though  not  a  deacon,  he  was 
truly  a  pillar  in  the  church. 

Hard  times  followed  the  Revolution.  The  state,  being 
bankrupt,  was  compelled  to  raise  money  by  taxing  the 
towns,  which  were  unable  to  respond  to  such  demands. 
Every  one  was  in  debt,  lawsuits  abounded,  and  lawyers 
flourished.  Mobs  gathered  in  the  towns  and  prevented 
the  sitting  of  the  courts,  and  a  party  of  men  from  Amherst 


Her  Hero  of  the  Revolution  5/ 

assisted  in  one  such  riot  in  Northampton.  Daniel  Shays, 
a  Revolutionary  officer,  organized  a  rebellion,  and  many 
Amherst  men  enrolled  under  his  banner.  Next  door  to 
the  home  of  Mary  Mattoon  stood  the  old  Clapp  tavern, 
once  the  place  of  entertainment  of  some  of  Burgoyne's 
officers,  who  were  prisoners  on  their  way  to  Boston.  In 
this  tavern  gathered  the  conspirators  against  the  newly 
formed  government.  We  are  not  surprised  that  Ebenezer 
Mattoon,  now  Justice  of  the  Peace,  stood  firm  against  the 
rebels,  although  his  brother-in-law,  Oliver  Clapp,  was 
secretly  a  friend  of  Shays. 

These  were  exciting  days  in  Amherst  and  the  adjoining 
hamlet  of  Pelham.  There,  in  the  old  Conkey  tavern, 
the  rebellion  was  planned,  and  in  the  open  space  before 
its  door  Daniel  Shays  drilled  his  men  in  the  manual  of 
arms.  Ebenezer  Mattoon  served  with  the  Amherst  com- 
pany which  defended  the  arsenal  in  Springfield,  and 
stood  by  the  side  of  General  Shepard  on  that  occasion, 
though  many  of  his  lifelong  friends  were  among  the  insur- 
gents. After  the  insurrection  was  subdued  he  was  one  of 
the  justices  before  whom  appeared  over  a  hundred 
Amherst  citizens  to  take  the  oath  of  allegiance.  Together 
with  other  notorious  rebels  Henry  McCulloch  of  Pelham, 
a  boyhood  friend  of  Ebenezer  Mattoon,  was  tried  for  high 
treason.  In  early  life  a  compact  of  mutual  assistance  in 
case  of  need  had  been  made  between  the  two  men.  Now 
General  Mattoon  wrote  to  Lieutenant  Governor  Gushing 


^2  Mary  Mattoon  and 

to  this  effect :  ''  I  have  suffered  much  in  person  and  prop- 
erty by  these  people.  I  have  been  obHged  to  remove  my 
family  to  a  neighboring  town  for  shelter.  Notwithstand- 
ing all  this,  I  must  beg  for  McCulloch.  I  cannot  express 
my  feelings  on  this  subject,  but  am  sure  McCulloch  is 
not  the  person  to  make  an  example  of."  The  petition  pre- 
vailed, but  not,  it  is  said,  until  a  rope  was  put  about  the 
prisoner's  neck  on  the  scaffold.  McCulloch  was  ruined, 
and  for  many  years  trudged  over  Pelham  hills  to  the 
Mattoon  home  with  a  bag  upon  his  shoulder,  returning 
loaded  with  provisions  for  himself  and  his  family.  Eben- 
ezer  Mattoon  was  constant  in  friendship.  We  are  glad  to 
learn  that  Mary  and  the  children  were  removed  to  a 
neighboring  town  for  shelter.  The  insurgents  did  much 
damage  on  their  march  and  the  pursuing  army  found  that 
most  of  the  Amherst  men  had  followed  the  rebels  to  Pel- 
ham,  leaving  the  women  and  children  unprotected.  To 
which  ''  neighboring  town  "  Mary  Mattoon  was  removed, 
and  how  she  ever  managed  upon  her  return  to  reconstruct 
her  household,  we  can  but  imagine. 

There  is  no  record  as  to  the  part  which  Amherst  women 
pla5^ed  in  Shays'  rebellion.  No  doubt  a  war  of  words 
expressed  the  feelings  of  those  connected  with  the  con- 
tending parties.  Mary  Mattoon,  not  being  "  much  of  a 
talker"  probably  thought  much  of  these  matters,  and 
said  little.  Her  father  being  impetuous  and  very  patri- 
otic, was    prevented    by    his  wife  from  shooting  Daniel 


Her  Hero  of  the  Revolution  §j 

Shays  as  he  passed  the  house.  The  daughter,  sympa- 
thizing with  both  husband  and  father,  went  about  her 
daily  toil,  and  pondered  these  things  in  her  heart.  Her 
talents  as  a  manager  were  more  and  more  called  into 
action  and  her  strength  of  character  developed  as  time 
went  on. 

The  record  of  Ebenezer  Mattoon's  public  service  shows 
him  to  have  been  called  to  many  offices  which  required 
good  judgment  and  a  knowledge  of  affairs.  In  1779  he 
was  a  member  of  the  committee  appointed  to  build  the 
new  jail  in  Northampton,  and  1801  found  him  consider- 
ing plans  for  a  new  court  house.  The  heart  of  Mary 
Mattoon  again  swelled  with  pride  when,  in  1801, 
her  hero  was  elected  to  Congress  by  a  large  majority. 
This  was  indeed  an  honor  !  His  wife,  being  manager  and 
representative  at  home,  could  not  accompany  him  to  Wash- 
ington, but  she  could  minister  to  his  welfare  by  training 
his  boys  and  girls,  by  conducting  the  affairs  of  her 
household  in  a  manner  befitting  the  wife  of  so  great  a 
man,  and  by  looking  sharply  after  the  industries  carried 
on  upon  the  farm.  Meantime  the  Amherst  member  in 
Congress,  being  an  old  school  Federalist,  followed  the 
dictates  of  his  conscience,  and  in  the  Jefferson  campaign 
threw  his  influence  in  favor  of  Aaron  Burr,  whom  he  con- 
sidered to  be  the  better  man. 

Her  great-grandson,  Ithamar  Cowles,  says  of  Mary 
Mattoon  :   "  My  grandmother  was  a  person  of  great  firm- 


5^  Mary  Mattoon  and 

ness  of  character  and  had  a  deal  of  independence  for  a 
woman  of  those  times."  The  truth  of  this  statement  is 
illustrated  by  an  anecdote  concerning  her,  told  by  Justus 
Uvvight  to  his  daughter,  who  is  still  living. 

"  When  Major  Mattoon  was  gone  to  the  war,  his  wife 
being  alone  with  her  children,  heard  some  one  in  the 
room  overhead.  She  immediately  caught  up  a  broom 
and  went  to  see  who  was  the  intruder.  She  found  a 
strange  man  and  ordered  him  to  get  out  of  the  house. 
Overawed,  he  said,  '  You  will  let  me  go  down  and  out  of 
the  door,  won't  you  ?'  With  a  flourish  of  her  broom,  she 
exclaimed,  '  No,  you  will  go  out  the  same  way  you  came 
in.' "  The  war  mentioned  was  probably  the  Shay's 
Rebellion. 

It  is  fortunate  that  the  wife  of  General  Mattoon  was 
possessed  of  those  qualities  which  enabled  her  to  manage 
alike  both  farm  and  household  during  the  absence  of  the 
master,  who  for  twenty  years  performed  the  duties  of  High 
Sheriff  of  old  Hampshire  County.  This  was  the  largest 
county  in  the  state,  extending  from  Vermont  to  Connecti- 
cut, including  Hampshire,  Hampden  and  Franklin  of 
to-day.  There  were  no  deputies  at  first,  and  the  office  of 
High  Sheriff,  though  a  position  of  honor  and  emolument, 
yet  involved  much  responsibility  and  prolonged  absence 
from  home.  Sometimes  the  Sheriff  rode  a  hundred  miles 
a  day  over  the  hills  of  Western  Massachusetts. 

Mary's  courageous  heart  must  have  rejoiced  to  see  him 


Her  Hero  of  the  Revolution  ^^ 

come  down  the  road  on  horseback  after  one  of  these 
lonely  journeys.  He  wore  a  sword  and  a  miUtary  hat 
with  a  cluster  of  ostrich-feathers.  This  hat,  minus  the 
feathers,  has  been  presented  to  the  Mary  Mattoon  Chap- 
ter, and  is  one  of  the  greatest  treasures  in  its  rooms. 

Though  a  man  of  war,  the  General  had  a  loving,  tender 
heart.  In  1806  two  murderers,  Halligan  and  Daly,  were 
sentenced  to  death.  The  High  Sheriff  by  virtue  of  his 
office,  was  obliged  to  officiate  at  the  execution.  The 
night  before,  he  walked  the  floor  in  his  East  Street  home 
in  great  distress  of  mind.  A  neighbor,  seeing  his  trouble? 
offered  to  do  the  business  for  him  for  five  dollars.  The 
General  indignantly  exclaimed,  "Would  you  take  a  man's 
life  for  five  dollars  ?"  He  is  also  said  to  have  remarked  : 
"  I  will  never  give  a  thing  which  it  is  my  duty  to  do  to 
any  one  else  to  do  for  me."  Strict  integrity,  devotion  to 
duty,  power  of  self-command  in  his  command  over  others, 
joined  to  a  sympathetic  nature  which  shrank  from  giving 
pain  to  the  smallest  creature,  were  the  qualities  which 
characterized  the  hero  of  Mary  Mattoon. 

The  execution  proceeded.  A  great  crowd  gathered. 
Accompanied  by  his  mounted  aids,  with  pistols  in  hol- 
sters, in  all  the  bravery  of  sword  and  uniform  and 
"  chapeau  bras,"  Sheriff  Mattoon  rode  to  Northampton  on 
his  finest  horse,  and  performed  his  difficult  duty.  With 
prudent  forethought  he  had  stationed  an  armed  squad  of 
soldiers  to  guard  against  a  rescue,  and  this  danger  was 


^6  Mary  Mattoon  and 

averted.  Imposing  indeed  was  the  appearance  of  the 
High  Sheriff  as  he  passed  along  the  road !  Zebina 
Montague  tells  us  :  "  For  many  years  his  name  was  used 
by  fond  mamas,  who  said  to  refractory  children,  '  Behave, 
or  I  will  send  for  General  Mattoon.'"  Yet  we  imagine 
that  this  stern  and  conscientious  administrator  of  justice, 
after  the  law  was  vindicated,  unnerved  by  what  he  had 
felt  to  be  a  terrible  task,  went  home  for  comfort,  and 
that  she  whose  heart  had  followed  him  through  the  day 
did  not  fail  him  in  this  extremity. 

Mary  Mattoon  must  have  taken  her  father-in-law  into 
her  home,  after  the  death  of  his  wife  in  1803.  A  histo- 
rian says  of  General  Mattoon:  "The  writer  was  at  his 
house  when  it  was  the  home  of  three  Ebenezer  Mattoons, 
his  father,  himself  and  grandson,  and  Feb.  19,  1814,  the 
birth  of  a  great-grandson  made  the  fourth  of  the  same 
name  in  direct  succession."  This  great-grandson  was  the 
son  of  Mary,  the  General's  eldest  daughter,  who  married 
Daniel  Dwight.  In  April,  1806,  the  old  man  '  Ebenezer 
died.  Having  previously  given  them  their  portion,  at 
his  death  he  left  to  each  of  his  five  daughters  five  shillings 
(eighty-three  cents),  and  to  his  son  Ebenezer  he  gave  the 
remainder  of  his  personal  property,  including  twenty-five 
acres  of  land  in  East  Street,  and  also  land  in  Pelham. 
This  brought  more  means  with  which  to  pay  the  family 
expenses,  but  with  it  came  more  responsibility. 

About  this  time  an  artist  of  great  skill  painted  the  por- 


SWORD    PRESENTED    TO    EBENEZER    MATTOON    WHEN    HE    WAS 

ADJUTANT    GENERAL.       FURNITURE    FORMERLY    IN 

THE    MATTOON    HOUSE,    EAST    AMHERST. 


Otvncd  by  Ithaviar  C.  Cowlcs. 


Her  Hero  of  the  Revolution  '57 

traits  of  the  master  and  mistress  as  they  appeared  in  their 
East  Street  home.  Who  this  painter  was  we  do  not 
know.  The  General  is  dressed  as  a  private  citizen,  and 
his  mild  and  pleasant  face  does  not  even  suggest  the 
fierce  High  Sheriff,  used  as  a  bugbear  to  frighten  children. 
This  picture  of  Mary  Mattoon  is  the  only  one  known  to 
have  been  made.  The  original  oil  paintings  are  owned 
by  the  General's  great-granddaughter,  Mrs.  Mary  Mattoon 
Clapp,  granddaughter  of  Daniel  Dwight. 

Here  we  see  the  mistress  of  the  East  Street  mansion  as 
we  have  imagined  her.  Early  in  life  she  donned  the  tall 
white  cap,  as  was  the  custom  of  matrons  of  that  day. 
Her  face,  though  placid,  is  cast  in  an  heroic  mould,  and 
its  lines  bear  witness  to  the  strenuous  life  which  she  had 
led.  We  do  not  readily  forget  the  steadfast  gaze  of  those 
"  large,  beautiful,  dark  blue  eyes  "  which  look  out  from 
the  picture  as  they  did  at  Ebenezer  Mattoon,  winning  his 
impressionable  heart  and  holding  it  true  during  fifty-six 
years  of  married  life.  Our  heroine  appears,  a  stately 
figure  in  her  short-waisted  black  silk  gown  and  white 
kerchief,  a  typical  New  England  dame  of  the  olden  time. 

Thus,  doubtless,  was  Mary  Mattoon  at  the  wed- 
ding when,  in  1S07,  her  daughter  Mary  married  Daniel 
Dwight,  with  whom  she  went  to  live  in  Westmoreland, 
N.  H.  Her  son  Ebenezer,  in  1804,  had  married  Lucina 
Mayo.  Noah  Dickinson,  the  youngest  boy,  had  followed 
in  his  father's  footsteps.     He  entered  Dartmouth  at  sev- 


^8  Mary  Mattooii  and 

enteen,  graduated  with  honor  in  1803,  married  Lucy  Bil- 
lings and  began  to  practice  law  in  Amherst.  Now  Mary 
was  to  leave  her  home  and  go  into  the  northern  wilder- 
ness. The  capacious  dining  room  and  parlor  in  the  East 
Street  house  were  well  suited  to  accommodate  wedding 
guests,  and  there  the  marriage  was  probably  held. 

We  know  that  many  servants  were  required  to  carry  on 
the  work  of  so  large  an  establishment  as  that  of  Mistress 
Mary  Mattoon.  Two  of  her  servants  Mrs.  Bardwell  has 
described  for  us:  "  Jeptha  Pharaoh,  father  of  the  late 
William  Pharaoh,  was  valet  or  body  guard  for  the  General, 
and  very  proud  was  he  of  his  uniform.  His  wife  Peggy 
was  an  assistant  to  Mrs.  Mattoon.  She  spun  her  linen, 
and  helped  in  various  ways  in  household  duties.  I  have 
now  a  knot  of  flax  which  she  prepared  ready  for  the 
distaff  of  Mrs.  Mattoon,  who  was  a  notable  housewife, 
well  filling  Solomon's  ideal  of  a  virtuous  woman.  Peggy 
was  a  descendant  of  an  Indian  chieftain,  and  alas,  loved 
the  contents  of  the  decanters  too  well  !  When  her 
appetite  was  gratified  she  was  very  happy.  She  would 
then  announce  herself  as  "Margaret  Sashwampee  Pharaoh, 
an  Indian  Chief's  daughter." 

We  like  to  think  that  old  Jeptha  waited  upon  the  guests 
at  Mary's  wedding,  and  that  Peggy  was  ''  very  happy  " 
without  the  aid  of  the  decanters.  The  knot  of  flax  men- 
tioned is  now  the  property  of  the  Mary  Mattoon  Chapter, 
the  sole  article  in  its  possession  known  to  have  belonged 
to  the  chapter  heroine. 


Her  Hero  of  the  Revohition  5p 

For  many  years  General  Mattoon  was  the  most  popular 
militia  officer  in  Western  Massachusetts.  The  boys  of 
that  day  thought  him  tall.  A  printed  record  says  :  "  He 
was  below  medium  height,  compactly  built,  straight  as  an 
arrow,  and  when  mounted  on  one  of  his  fine  horses  made 
a  splendid  appearance."  His  home  was  constantly  filled 
with  visitors.  Distinguished  men  from  Boston,  members 
of  the  Legislature,  and  even  the  Governor  were  his 
guests.  Sometimes  his  friends  took  the  family  by  sur- 
prise, and  the  mistress  was  always  expected  to  be  ready. 
One  legislator,  thinking  that  the  country  so  far  from  Bos- 
ton must  be  a  wilderness,  asked  if  he  should  take  his 
gun,  but  upon  arriving  at  the  Mattoon  homestead  he  was 
overcome  with  mortification  to  see  the  style  and  elegance 
with  which  he  was  entertained  by  the  dignified  host  and 
hostess.  A  party  of  officials  planned  an  unexpected 
visit.  Learning  this  by  chance,  the  General  sent  men  to 
hunt  on  the  mountain,  and  Mary  taxed  herself  and  the 
servants  to  the  utmost  to  get  up  a  fine  dinner.  The 
guests  expressed  astonishment,  at  which  the  General 
replied,  with  a  tv/inkle  in  his  eye,  that  he  hoped  next 
time  they  would  let  him  know  they  were  coming,  that  he 
might  make  fit  preparation.  General  Mattoon  was  full 
of  fun  and  jollity,  and  loved  young  people,  and  Mary 
loved  to  see  him  happy.  Therefore  a  bevy  of  attractive 
young  ladies,  nieces  and  other  relatives,  and  friends  of 
Dorothy  before  her  marriage,  frequented  the  East  Street 
home,  and  all  were  welcome. 


6o  Mary  Mattoon  and 

Woman's  work  in  Amherst  was  somewhat  easier  now. 
Levi  Dickinson  in  Hadley  had  initiated  the  industry  of 
making  brooms  from  broom  corn  instead  of  from  birch 
twigs,  and  sweeping  had  become  a  less  difficult  task.  A 
carding  machine  had  been  set  up  in  North  Amherst,  and 
there  was  also  one  in  Pelham.  To  the  latter  for  many 
years  General  Mattoon  carried  his  wool.  The  people  of 
the  town  had  more  advantages  than  heretofore.  The 
first  public  library  had  been  established,  and  was  kept  in 
a  case  six  feet  high  and  five  feet  wide  at  Deacon  David 
Moody's  in  South  Amherst.  The  farmers,  too,  were 
doing  wonders.  A  squash  was  grown  in  Amherst  measur- 
ing "  lyi  inches,  4^  inches  from  the  small  end."  The 
vine  bore  "rising  of   100  squashes." 


VIII. 

IN  181 1  we  read  in  the  Hampshire  Gazette  of  a  great 
comet  which  was  believed  to  presage  war.  The 
prophecy  proved  true.  July  3,  181 2,  General  Mattoon 
was  ordered  to  see  that  the  entire  western  division  under 
his  command  was  thoroughly  trained  and  equipped  for 
instant  action  in  time  of  need,  "to  defend  their  country 
and  their  constitutional  rights,  and  those  liberties  which 


Her  Hero  of  the  Revohition  6i 

at  the  expense  of  so  much  blood  and  treasure  were  pur- 
chased in  the  late  Revolution."  The  General  did  not 
believe  in  this  war.  He  was  a  delegate  to  the  Convention 
which  met  in  Northampton,  and  presented  a  memorial  to 
the  president  praying  that  Commissioners  might  be 
appointed  to  negotiate  peace.  Nevertheless,  when  war 
was  declared,  the  Major  General  was  ready  and  his 
Brigade  Major,  Noah  D.  Mattoon,  was  also  ready. 

The  General  sent  out  orders  and  appointed  days  for 
inspection  and  for  general  training  to  be  held  in  the  usual 
place,  ''  Below  the  West  Parish  meeting  House,  between 
said  meeting  House  and  the  brook."  There  was  no 
danger  that  these  orders  would  not  be  obeyed,  for  Gen- 
eral Mattoon  as  a  tactician  and  disciplinarian  was  the 
most  remarkable  military  commander  in  the  state.  A 
subaltern  in  his  division  said:  "He  was  a  perfect  Napo- 
leon in  his  way,  and  woe  be  to  the  officer  or  soldier  who 
came  on  parade  with  his  uniform  tattered  or  soiled,  or 
whose  conduct  in  the  line  was  in  any  way  unsoldierly." 
A  surgeon  in  one  of  his  regiments  remarked  to  Zebina 
Montague:  "Why,  sir,  he  would  take  a  company  of  raw 
wool  hat  boys  from  Pelham  Hills  or  Shutesbury,  and  by 
drilling  them  an  hour  or  two  behind  a  drum  and  fife  on  old 
Hadley  common,  he  would  put  the  very  devil  in  them." 

The  General  said  of  himself  :  "I  studied  no  profession 
except  that  of  arms."  How  thoroughly  he  mastered  this, 
his   sole   "  profession,"  is  shown   by    the  closing    para- 


62  Mary  Mattoon  and 

graph  of  a   general   order   which  he  issued    during  the 
war  of   1812  : 

"  In  passing  down  the  orders  of  his  excellency  the 
Commander-in-Chief,  the  Major  General  directs  that  they 
be  communicated  to  every  company,  and  that  they  be 
carefully  preserved  by  every  officer  and  soldier  in  the 
division.  The  crisis  is  all  important  to  our  country  and 
demands  the  attention  of  every  individual  in  the  commu- 
nity. Let  every  officer  and  soldier  do  his  duty :  forbear 
the  use  of  irritating  language :  let  party  dissention  have 
no  continuance  in  the  Militia.  Division  is  destruction, 
union  is  our  salvation.  Let  due  subordination  be  cher- 
ished by  every  grade  throughout  our  ranks  and  every 
officer  and  soldier  be  prompt  to  carry  the  general  order 
into  full  effect." 

One  company,  that  of  Captain  Chester  Williams  of 
Amherst,  consisted  of  captain,  lieutenant,  ensign,  six 
sergeants  and  musicians,  three  corporals  and  sixty-three 
privates.  Each  soldier  was  to  be  provided  with  musket, 
bayonet,  cartridge-box,  iron  rod,  scabbard  and  belt,  flints, 
wires  and  brushes,  knapsacks,  cartridges  and  balls. 

The  Americans  had  rushed  unprepared  into  war,  and 
their  project  of  invading  Canada  Vv'as  unsuccessful. 
Rumors  prevailed  that  the  British  might  descend  on  Bos- 
ton. June  22,  18 1 2,  General  Mattoon  was  ordered  to 
detach  445  men  from  the  fourth  division,  who  should  hold 
themselves  in  readiness  to  march  at  a  moment's  warning. 
Reviews  were  frequent  and  the  vigilance  of  the  Major 
■General    was    untiring.       The   troops    were    drilled    and 


Her  Hero  of  the  Revohition  6j 

reviewed  and  paraded  below  the  west  parish  meeting- 
house. Artillery  for  Commodore  Perry's  fleet  on  Lake 
Erie  passed  through  Amherst  over  the  old  Bay  road. 
Loomis  Merrick  remembers  hearing  his  grandfather,  James 
Merrick,  tell  of  seeing  one  cannon  drawn  along  that 
road  by  seventeen  horses.  In  September,  1814,  an 
urgent  call  came  for  a  force  to  repel  the  British,  who  had 
invaded  Massachusetts.  General  Mattoon  detached  six- 
teen companies  from  the  fourth  division  for  the  defence 
of  Boston.  But  after  all,  there  was  no  fighting,  and  the 
few  Amherst  men  returned  safely  to  their  homes. 

During  these  two  years  the  Major  General  deeply  felt 
the  responsibility  devolving  upon  him.  That  he  was 
equal  to  the  emergency  is  proved  by  the  fact  that  in  18 16, 
resigning  his  commission  as  Major  General,  he  received 
and  accepted  from  Governor  John  Brooks  the  appoint- 
ment as  Adjutant  General.  This  placed  General  Mattoon 
second  in  command  of  all  the  militia  in  the  state.  The 
sword  presented  to  him  at  this  time,  and  also  certain 
articles  of  his  furniture,  are  owned  by  IthamarC.  Cowles, 
his  great-grandson.  Mr.  Cowles  says  :  "  They  say  that 
General  Washington  has  played  many  a  game  of  whist  on 
that  table." 


6^  Mary  Mattoon  and 


IX. 


GENERAL  Mattoon  had  now  become  a  very  wealthy 
man.  He  owned  large  tracts  of  land  in  North  and 
East  Amherst,  in  Leverett  and  in  Pelham.  He  was 
successful  in  every  undertaking  and  was  greatly  admired 
and  respected  by  the  townspeople.  Pacific  Lodge  of 
Masons,  which  he  had  joined  soon  after  it  was  organized, 
in  1817  elected  him  its  master.  He  owned  an  interest  in 
manufacturing  enterprises  and  his  advice  in  business 
matters  was  considered  of  much  value.  There  are  those 
living  in  Amherst  to-day  who,  when  little  children,  rode 
with  him  in  his  fine  coach  with  its  liveried  coachman,  and 
who  remember  well  the  deference  paid  to  the  great  man 
by  his  fellow  townsmen.  He  made  many  journeys  to 
Boston,  travelling  by  the  "  Fast  Mail  coach,"  and  this 
same  conveyance  brought  many  distinguished  guests  to 
his  hospitable  mansion. 

By  this  time  the  youngest  daughter,  Dorothy,  had 
married  Dr.  Timothy  Gridley,  who,  though  living  in  town, 
had  taken  her  away  from  home,  and  Mary  Mattoon  was 
left  alone.  We  hope  she  now  led  an  easier  life  and 
could  enjoy  some  leisure  moments.  Her  grandson,  Isaac 
Gridley,  says  :  "  In  the  early  part  of  the  last  century  she 
led  the  singing  in  the  church  and  was  a  very  efficient 
churchworker."     This  statement  suggests  that  her  imme- 


Copy  of  portrait  in  th(2  ppsMSsion  of  William  Mattoon  King. 


Her  Hero  of  the  Revohition  65 

diate  home  duties  did  not  occupy  all  her  time.  Perhaps 
she  may  have  belonged  to  the  "  Female  Cent  Society," 
which  at  that  time  flourished  in  East  Street.  With  no 
daughter  to  assist,  this  woman  who  was  "  not  much  of  a 
talker,"  as  she  grew  older,  must  have  found  it  hard  to 
entertain  so  many  guests.  Her  father  now  had  passed 
away.     In  old  West  cemetery  we  find  the  inscription  : 

"Lieutenant  Noah  Dickinson  died 

May  28th,  1815,  aged  85. 
Mortals  attend,  for  you  must  die. 

And  sleep  in  dust  as  well  as  I, 
Repent  in  time  your  souls  to  save, 

There  is  no  repentance  in  the  grave." 

General  Mattoon  was  interested  in  all  young  people 
and  was  specially  fond  of  his  young  brother-in-law, 
Jonathan,  whom  he  desired  to  send  to  college.  The  boy 
did  go  to  Deerfield  Academy  to  prepare,  but  his  father, 
needing  his  help,  went  after  him  and  brought  him  home 
"  to  shoot  ducks."  Noah  Dickinson,  like  many  others 
of  that  day,  did  not  think  an  education  necessary,  and  in 
this  he  agreed  with  the  majority  of  his  neighbors. 

We  are  glad  to  know  that  in  the  autumn  of  18 16  the 
newly  appointed  Adjutant  General  of  the  state  found  time 
to  take  with  his  wife  a  journey  to  Westmoreland,  N.  H., 
to  visit  "Mary  and  the  children."  A  letter,  by  General 
Mattoon,  written  to  his  son-in-law,  Daniel  Dwight, 
loaned  by  Mrs.  Davis,  tells  us  all  we  know  about  this 
5 


66  Mary  Mattoon  and 

visit.  We  can  imagine  how  Mary  Mattoon  put  on  her 
green  silk  calash,  and  started  out  in  the  fall-back  chaise 
on  this  journey,  which,  so  far  as  we  know,  is  the  only 
one  she  ever  enjoyed.  The  last  sentence  of  this  letter  is 
of  special  interest,  giving  the  General's  idea  of  the  state 
of  things  in  Boston. 

Boston,  Nov.   iith,   i8i6. 
My  Dear  Sir: 

I  received  yours  of  the  30th  ult.  by  Mr.  Kendall, 
and  am  very  glad  to  know  that  you  are  all  well.  The 
day  we  left  your  house  we  arrived  at  mine,  about  dark : 
all  stood  it  well,  but  Mrs.  Mattoon.  She  was  very  much 
fatigued,  but  was  much  better  next  morning ;  your  Father 
and  Mother  are  remarkably  well,  and  felt  much  better  for 
the  journey.  I  left  home  on  Monday  the  4th,  and  arrived 
at  Boston  on  the  5  th  through  rain,  and  mud  in  abundance, 
but  am  in  tolerable  health  now.  The  Saturday  before  I 
left  home,  Jos.  Graves  was  hunting  with  Col.  Stebbins — 
and  by  accident  shot  him,  and  wounded  him  very  dan- 
gerously, several  large  shot  remain  in  his  back,  you  will 
hear  the  particulars  probably  before  this  reaches  you. 

I  have  sent  my  horse  and  chaise  to  you  by  Mr.  Ken- 
dall, altho.  the  price  is  high,  yet  I  can  do  no  better,  and 
as  you  will  be  near  him,  you  can  see  to  him — and  use 
him  when  you  have  occasion.  I  thought  it  would  be 
better  to  have  the  horse  and  chaise  together,  for  they  may 
be  sent  either  here  or  to  Amherst  in  the  Spring,  with  less 
trouble.  I  wish  you  to  direct  his  hoofs  greased,  once  or 
twice  a  week,  for  they  are  bad, — he  was  lame,  but  by 
_greasing  he  is  nearly  well. 


Her  Hero  of  the  Revohition  6j 

Give  my  love  to  Mary  and  the  children.  I  want  to  see 
them  much  more  than  before  I  visited  you. 

No  news  here,  all  are  eager  for  property,  and  inquiry 
respecting  it  bounds  the  conversation  of  most  people,  and 
information  respecting  it,  if  agreeable,  satisfies  their 
minds. 

I  am, 

My  Dear  Sir, 

Yours  affectionately, 

E.  Mattoon. 

Another  letter,  now  the  property  of  MissConkey,  writ- 
ten by  General  Mattoon  from  Boston  to  his  son,  Noah 
Dickinson,  has  the  date  so  indistinct  that  we  can  only 
guess  it  to  be  1817.  These  two  letters  mentioned  are 
probably  among  the  last  which  he  wrote  with  his  own 
hand.  We  see  that  even  in  the  midst  of  the  turmoil  of 
public  life,  expecting  a  visit  from  President  Monroe,  the 
Adjutant  General  remembered  to  tell  his  son  what  kind 
of  grain  to  "  sew,"  purchased  a  "  quintall  of  fish  "  for  the 
family,  and  picked  out  for  Mary  "  i  lb  Hizin  Tea,  8  lb 
H.  S.  Tea,  15  yards  of  Callico  and  2  pair  stockings." 
This  thoughtfulness  for  his  wife,  even  under  such  cir- 
cumstances, was  never  failing. 

Boston,  Wednesday  Evening,  10  o'clock, 
23RD  April  i8i7(?) 
My  Dear  Dick: 

I  have  this  moment  returned  from  Medford  and 
found  Mr.  E.  Dickinson  waiting  for  me.  He  gave  me 
your  letter  with  one  from  the  Doctor.     I  am  very  glad  to 


68  Mary  Mattoon  and 

learn  that  all  are  well :  in  regard  to  sewing,  I  would  put 
as  much  rye  and  oats  into  the  ground  as  you  think  you 
can  find  ground  that  will  produce  any  considerable  crop- 
As  to  Indian  corn,  I  have  very  little  expectation  of  its 
succeeding  better  this  than  last  year.  It  looks  dismal 
here,  and  the  prospect  very  unfavorable  at  present.  A 
kind  Providence  governs.  We  must  depend  upon  that 
after  doing  our  duty.  If  the  season  continues  as  cold  as 
at  present,  I  think  we  will  have  to  experience  such  dis- 
tress as  this  country  never  witnessed.  I  have  sent 
a  quintall  of  fish  by  Mr.  Dickinson.  I  sent  half  a  quin- 
tall  by  Mr.  Dean  with  other  things.  I  sent  several  things 
to  your  mama  by  Mr.  Dickinson  (to  wit),  i  lb  Hizin  tea, 
81b  H.  S.  Tea,  15  yards  of  Callico  and  2  pair  stockings. 
I  wrote  you  by  Dean  and  as  it  is  late  I  must  close.  The 
certificate  of  the  removal  of  an  officer  must  be  made  by 
the  Major  General. 

We  expect  the  President  of  the  U.  S.  in  Boston  27th 
of  May.  I  have  with  some  difficulty  obtained  leave  of 
absence  for  a  few  days  after  the  first  of  May.  The  coun- 
cil set  on  the  7th,  but  I  have  urged  so  hard  the  necessity 
of  my  being  at  home  for  a  few  days,  that  I  have  suc- 
ceeded in  obtaining  leave  of  absence. 

Love  to  all — good  night. 

Yours  with  affection, 

E.  Mattoon. 

The  year  this  letter  was  written  there  was  given  in 
Boston  the  most  brilliant  military  exhibition  that  had 
ever  been  seen  in  that  city.  Cavalry,  artillery  and  infantry 
occupied  three  sides  of  the  common,  all  commanded  by 
Brigadier  General  Welles.     The  line  was  reviewed  by  the 


Her  Hero  of  the  Revolution  6g 

Governor  accompanied  by  Adjutant  General  Mattoon  and 
other  officers.  A  picture  of  the  General  in  full  uniform 
as  he  appeared  that  day  hung  for  fifty  years  in  the  Bos- 
ton Museum.  Mrs.  Clapp  says  that  this  picture,  of 
unknown  authorship,  was  accidentally  discovered  by  her 
mother,  Mrs.  Wolcott,  granddaughter  of  the  General.  It 
was  purchased  and  is  now  owned  by  his  great-grandson, 
William  Mattoon  King,  who  has  presented  a  photograph 
of  the  painting  to  the  Mary  Mattoon  Chapter. 

For  many  years  there  was  great  jealousy  between  East 
Street  and  West  Street,  or  the  Center.  The  former  could 
muster  the  larger  number  of  votes,  and  possessed  General 
Mattoon  and  the  old  cannon,  and  went  by  the  name  of 
Sodom.  The  Center  was  called  Mt.  Zion,  and  boasted 
of  its  academy  and  afterward  of  its  college,  and  was 
proud  to  number  Noah  Webster  among  its  citizens.  The 
statement,  "  Large  bushy  whiskers  require  a  good  deal  of 
nursing  and  trimming,"  found  within  the  pages  of  the 
little  old  blue  spelling  book,  may  have  been  evolved  from 
the  brain  of  this  great  man  during  his  residence  in 
Amherst.  When  he  moved  out  of  town,  the  East  Street 
people  in  their  triumph  over  the  Center,  rang  the  church 
bell  and  fired  a  salute  from  the  old  cannon. 

East  Amherst  boasted  the  first  postoffice,  one  mail  a 
week  being  brought  by  stage-coach  from  Northampton. 
In  this  mail  came  the  county  paper,  \\\q  Hampshire  Gazette, 
the  chief   means   by   which  the  farmers  learned  the  news 


JO  Mary  Mattoon  and 

from  the  outside  world.  Among  the  gems  of  poetry  in  the 
Gazette  in  1817  was  the  "  Burial  of  Sir  John  Moore,"  and 
the  ''  Old  Oaken  Bucket."  A  sea  serpent  with  a  body 
"  larger  than  the  mast  of  a  ship  "  was  reported  to  have 
been  seen  off  Gloucester  harbor.  A  certain  Captain 
Joseph  Ferry,  aged  ninety-four,  who  had  just  died,  was 
declared  to  have  been  buried  in  Springfield,  "where  had 
previously  been  deposited  the  remains  of  his  5  mothers 
and  his  5  wives."  The  readers  of  the  Gazette  certainly 
learned  all  the  news,  and  almost  every  issue  for  years  bore 
somewhere  on  its  pages  the  name  of  Ebenezer  Mattoon. 
Suddenly,  about  1S18,  his  name  appeared  no  more.  The 
news  soon  spread  that  the  great  man  of  Amherst,  he  whom 
it  was  expected  would  soon  be  elected  governor  of  the 
state,  had  become  totally  blind.  A  simple  cold  taken  in 
the  year  when  snow  fell  every  month,  had  produced  an 
inflammation  which  destroyed  the  sight  of  those  keen 
eyes,  and  obliged  him  to  resign  his  position  as  Adjutant 
General. 

This  misfortune  to  so  eminent  an  officer  was  severely 
felt  by  his  associates  in  public  life.  In  18 17  he  had 
become  a  member  of  the  Ancient  and  Honorable  Artillery 
Company,  expecting  to  serve  as  a  private,  for  although  an 
old  man,  he  was  proud  again  to  shoulder  his  gun  in  the 
ranks.  The  same  year  he  was  elected  Captain  and  was 
chairman  of  a  committee  which  petitioned  the  governor 
for  two   brass   six   pounders   to   be  used  in  their  drill  in 


Her  Hero  of  the  Revolution  yi 

order  that  they  might  "be  restored  to  the  ancient  situation 
of  the  company  as  the  name  imports,  as  well  as  to  assist 
them  in  a  correct  knowledge  in  the  exercises  of  artillery." 
June  3,  1818,  when  he  was  to  have  returned  his  badge  of 
office,  he  was  prevented  by  a  "  distressing  indisposition." 
He  was  heard  to  observe  on  the  election  day,  from  the 
ceremonies  of  which  he  was  detained,  that  "  it  was  one 
of  the  most  melancholy  days  he  had  ever  been  called 
upon  to  spend,  as  he  had  calculated  with  no  small  degree 
of  pride  on  that  day."  When  in  1834  the  Ancient  and 
Honorable  Artillery  Company  observed  its  one  hundred 
and  ninety-sixth  anniversary.  General  Mattoon,  the  oldest 
member  living,  was  led  around  the  company,  and  thus 
reviewed  it,  though  he  was  totally  blind. 

With  characteristic  resolution  our  hero  rallied  his 
energies  to  meet  the  calamity  which  had  come  upon  him. 
He  still  had  many  visitors  from  abroad  who  came  to 
sympathize  and  went  away  filled  with  admiration  for  the 
old  soldier,  fighting  his  hardest  battle.  In  1820  he  was 
a  delegate  to  the  convention  for  amending  the  Constitu- 
tion, and  the  same  year  was  a  member  of  the  electoral 
college.  He  was  in  great  demand  as  a  speaker  on  public 
occasions  and  was  consulted  as  authority  on  points  con- 
nected with  public  affairs. 

The  cares  of  Mary  Mattoon  were  much  increased  when 
she  was  least  able  to  bear  the  strain.  Her  son,  the  law- 
yer, had    gone    west,    and  could  not  be  consulted    with 


7^  Mary  Mat  toon  and 

regard  to  the  management  of  the  estate.  The  mistress 
attempted  to  be  her  husband's  eyes  as  well  as  hands  and 
feet,  but  her  endurance  finally  failed.  As  time  passed 
rheumatism  claimed  her  for  a  victim  and  her  upright 
form  became  bent  and  twisted.  The  General  missed  his 
eyes,  and  also  missed  the  quick  step  and  ready  hand  of 
her  upon  whom  he  had  depended  for  so  many  years.  In 
1828,  he  was  again  a  member  of  the  electoral  college. 
After  this  we  find  no  record  of  his  appointment  to  any 
public  office. 

The  grandchildren  of  Mary  Mattoon  remember  her  in 
her  last  days  as  sitting  in  her  chair  beside  her  husband, 
so  bent  that  her  head  very  nearly  touched  her  knees,  try- 
ing still  in  her  feeble  way  to  take  the  place  of  the  eyes 
which  he  had  lost.  She  was  able  with  difficulty  to  walk 
about  the  lower  part  of  the  house,  and  though  in  reality 
three  years  younger  than  the  General  she  seemed  many 
years  his  senior.  His  outdoor  life  of  travel  with  variety 
of  occupations  had  kept  him  young  and  had  stored  his 
mind  with  an  inexhaustible  fund  of  tales  and  anecdotes 
of  both  public  and  private  interest.  We  cannot  doubt 
that  he  who  remembered  her  so  faithfully  when  absent, 
now  was  happy  to  give  her  of  his  best.  With  unselfish 
devotion  she  had  rejoiced  to  spend  her  best  years  in  his 
service.  The  dull  routine  of  daily  duties,  with  no  recre- 
ation or  amusement,  had  broken  down  her  sturdy  frame, 
and  now  in  her  last  years  she  was  obliged  to  be  depend- 


GENERAL    MATTOON. 

Copy  of  t lie  Triimlntll portrait. 


Her  Hero  of  the  Revo  hit  ion  yj 

ent  upon  others.  The  blind  old  man  and  the  helpless 
old  woman,  a  true  hero  and  heroine  of  old  New  England, 
sat  side  by  side  in  the  East  Street  home  and  communed 
of  the  past. 

This  pathetic  picture  is  relieved  by  the  remembrance 
of  the  cheerful  disposition  of  the  old  soldier,  who  by  his 
funny  stories  made  the  home  bright,  and  drew  about 
him  the  children  and  young  people  from  all  parts  of  the 
town.  One  would  think  that  he  had  many  reasons  to  be 
sorrowful,  for  his  business  interests  had  greatly  suffered, 
and  from  being  wealthy  he  had  become  comparatively 
poor.  Never  for  a  moment  did  he  lose  courage  or  fail  to 
take  an  active  interest  in  everything  going  on  about  him. 
He  dictated  descriptions  of  the  battle  of  Saratoga  for 
various  papers.  The  children  in  the  neighborhood  were 
taught  to  call  him  "  Grandpa,"  and  were  pressed  into  his 
service  as  guides  about  the  town.  Many  living  to-day 
count  this  experience  as  among  the  happiest  of  their 
childish  recollections.  Strangers  who  went  to  call  upon 
the  General  did  not  see  his  wife,  but  her  grandchildren 
still  speak  of  her  as  being  "not  much  of  a  talker,"  and 
say  that  she  was  "  good,"  and  that  she  was  bent  over 
because  of  much  hard  work.  She  would  not  have  made 
a  handsome  picture  at  that  time,  but  the  beauty  of  her 
unselfish  life  shone  forth  in  those  blue  eyes,  which  from 
beneath  the  shadow  of  the  tall  white  cap  sought  her  hus- 
band's  face   as   long  as  consciousness  remained.     Mary 


j^  Mary  Mattoou  and 

Mattoon  died  quietly  as  she  had  lived.  She  slipped  out 
of  life  July  30,  1835,  aged  seventy-seven.  One  line  in 
the  newspaper  announced  her  death.  After  a  simple 
funeral  service,  the  old  West  cemetery  received  the  dis- 
torted body.  She  was  buried  by  the  side  of  "  Fanny  " 
and  "Fanny  2nd,"  and  her  name  is  cut  beneath  that  of 
her  husband  on  the  same  stone.  The  story  of  her  heroic 
life  of  self  sacrificing  love,  though  heretofore  not  written 
on  earth,  is  recorded  in  Heaven. 


THE  General's  business  affairs  had  become  so 
involved  that  the  year  before  the  death  of  his 
wife  all  his  real  estate  and  that  belonging  to  his 
son  were  sold  at  public  auction.  This  property  included 
the  farm  described  as  "  situated  about  one  mile  and  a 
half  north  of  the  colleges  in  Amherst,  containing  about 
200  acres,"  "  a  farm  lying  near  the  second  Parish  meeting 
house  in  said  Amherst  containing  about  100  acres,"  "the 
Hendrick  farm  lying  about  one  half  a  mile  south  of  the 
second  parish  meeting-house  containing  about  80  acres  of 
excellent  land,"  one  hundred  acres  of  pasture  and  wood- 
land  in   Leverett.   thirty   acres   of  woodland   in  Pelham, 


Her  Hero  of  the  Revolution  75. 

and  fifteen  acres  of  mowing  and  pasture  land  in  East 
Amherst.  The  loss  of  property  and  the  consequent 
auction  must  have  been  terrible  blows  to  Mary  Mattoon 
and  probably  hastened  her  death.  We  are  glad  to  know 
that  she  was  not  obliged  to  leave  her  home,  and  that  the 
General  was  able  to  live  there  in  comfort  to  the  close  of 
his  life.  He  must  have  sadly  missed  his  wife,  but  he 
seems  never  to  have  lacked  for  friends.  His  niece, 
Elizabeth  Clapp  Kellogg,  lived  in  his  family  from  her 
seventh  year  until  she  married  Ithamar  Conkey.  Her 
son,  Ithamar  Conkey,  became  a  leading  Amherst  lawyer. 
The  General's  granddaughter,  Mrs.  Wolcott,  when  a  child, 
was  a  member  of  his  household,  and  was  devotedly 
attached  to  him.  Her  daughter,  Mrs.  Clapp,  says : 
"  Tucked  away  in  my  treasure-box  is  a  strand  of  silvery 
hair  which  my  mother  cut  when  as  a  child,  she  sat  in  the 
dear  old  grandfather's  lap  and  read  the  Bible  to  him.'^ 
This  little  girl  was  his  constant  companion,  his  blindness 
making  him  turn  to  her  for  many  little  offices.  She  often 
said  there  was  no  one  she  loved  in  those  days  as  she  did 
her  grandfather. 

Besides  the  Bible,  this  little  girl  read  the  Hampshire 
Gazette  to  the  old  man,  and  much  interesting  information 
the  pair  discovered  in  its  pages.  The  canal-boat  James 
HillhoHse  was  announced  to  leave  the  wharf  near  the 
Mansion  house,  Northampton,  every  Thursday,  for 
"  Newhaven."      The    county    Total    Abstinence    Society 


'J  6  Mary  Mat  to  on  and 

was  formed,  with  General  David  Mack  of  Amherst  as  its 
president.  Mrs.  Dorcas  Bogue,  aged  "  loo  yrs  20  days," 
died  in  Amherst.  The  silkworm  craze  struck  the  Con- 
necticut Valley,  and  the  "  Amherst  Silk  Society  "  was 
formed.     The  farmers  were  adjured  : 

"  If  ye  aspire  to  wealth  and  ease, 

Stock  well  your  farm  with  mulberry  trees." 

Many  farmers  followed  this  advice,  but  the  wealth  and 
ease  did  not  materialize.  The  "  New  England  Zoological 
Society  "  came  to  old  Hadley.  An  advertisement  in  the 
Gazette  said  :  "  The  inmates  of  these  cages  form  a  most 
Gigantic  and  imposing  spectacle."  One  of  these 
"inmates"  made  its  escape  and  wandered  over  to 
Amherst.  The  Gazette  then  said  "  A  stray  ostrich  which 
escaped  from  the  menagerie  was  met  by  farmers  on  the 
road  between  Belchertown  and  Amherst,"  and  added : 
"  These  miserable  caravans  with  their  circuses  and  Jim 
Crows  ought  not  to  be  permitted  to  traverse  the  Country 
disturbing  the  peace  and  quiet  even  of  the  Sabbath  Day." 
Fresh  meat  sold  in  Northampton  for  twelve  cents  a  pound 
and  in  Amherst  for  sixteen  cents.  The  Gazette  said  : 
"  We  must  all  become  Grahamites  and  live  upon  bran 
bread  and  saw  dust  puddings."  To  help  them  chew  this 
expensive  meat  people  were  buying  "  mineral  teeth," 
"  Incorruptible  teeth "  and  "  double  sets  of  teeth  with 
springs,"  of  Dr.  Charles  Walker  in  Northampton. 

General   Mattoon   retained  his  own  teeth  in  good  con- 


Her  Hero  of  the  Revolution  j"/ 

dition  to  the  end  of  his  life,  and  so  he  did  not  need  to 
patronize  the  Northampton  dentist.  He  was,  however, 
much  interested  in  all  advertisements  of  new  inventions. 
He  was  glad  to  learn  that  his  neighbor,  Willard  Kellogg, 
had  a  yoke  of  oxen  weighing  4200  pounds,  and  that 
Nathaniel  Farrar  had  raised  a  beet  in  his  garden  which 
weighed  SJ  pounds  and  measured  lyf  inches  in  circum- 
ference. There  is  no  doubt  but  that  he  shared  the  2:en- 
eral  excitement  when  the  canal-boat,  Davy  Crockett,  drawn 
by  four  grey  horses,  reached  Northampton  from  Westfield. 
The  announcement  that  the  steamboat,  John  Ledyard, 
built  in  Springfield,  was  carrying  passengers  and  freight 
between  that  city  and  Wells  River  must  have  recalled  to 
him  those  college  days  at  Dartmouth,  and  the  "great 
American  traveller  "  after  whom  the  boat  was  named. 

All  these  events,  as  recorded  in  the  Gazette,  the  little 
girl  read  to  her  old  blind  grandfather.  The  Gazette  for 
Dec.  2,  1835,  contains  an  article  of  two  and  a  half  col- 
umns signed  "  E.  Mattoon."  The  writer  describes  in 
clearest  language  what  took  place  between  Oct.  7  and  17, 
1777.  About  this  time  he  visited  the  scenes  of  those 
battles,  and  with  no  uncertain  step  walked  to  an  elevated 
place,  from  which,  pointing  with  his  cane,  he  described 
the  location  of  the  left  wing,  and  the  position  where 
stood  the  General  and  his  aids.  The  stump  of  a  tree  and 
other  indications  proved  the  truth  of  his  statements. 
His    long  life   of  strenuous    effort,  and    the  loss  of  his 


Y8  Mary  Mattoon  and 

■eyesight,  had  not  dimmed  his  recollection  of  those  scenes 
in  which  he  was  an  actor  more  than  fifty  years  before. 

The  old  cannon  which  General  Mattoon  brought  from 
-Saratoga  for  many  years  was  the  chief  feature  in  patriotic 
demonstrations.  It's  owner  willingly  loaned  it  to  the 
boys,  and  when  it  was  not  in  use  kept  it  in  the  barn 
behind  his  house.  Which  section  of  the  town  should 
have  the  gun  was  a  disputed  question  before  each  Fourth 
of  July,  and  the  General,  the  oldest  boy  of  all,  let  the 
others  fight  it  out.  After  the  college  was  established  the 
students  found  the  gun  very  useful  to  assist  in  their  cele- 
brations, and  took  their  turn  in  stealing  it  from  the  boys 
in  the  Center.  In  the  summer  of  1831  the  much  desired 
fieldpiece  mysteriously  disappeared,  and  though  search  has 
many  times  been  made  no  trace  of  it  has  ever  been  found. 
In  1896  there  was  discovered  a  letter  written  in  1858, 
which  describes  the  burying  of  the  gun  by  a  party  of 
students,  and  tells  exactly  where  it  might  be  discovered, 
but  all  the  landmarks  had  disappeared,  and  search  was 
unavailing.  It  is  probable  that  under  Main  street,  over 
which  run  the  Amherst  &  Sunderland  electric  cars,  the 
old  cannon  rests  securely,  never  to  be  resurrected.  The 
student  who  described  the  hiding  of  the  gun  said  that 
"  General  Mattoon  was  in  perfect  ecstacies  at  the  fun  of 
the  thing." 

Amherst  College  delighted  to  honor  General  Mattoon. 
Professor  Fiske  invited  him  to  be  seated  on  the  platform  in 


Her  Hero  of  the  Revolution  yg 

College  Hall  when  he  gave  a  lecture  on  the  battle  of  Sara- 
toga and  the  surrender  of  Burgoyne.  When  called  upon 
to  speak,  the  old  soldier  expressed  his  pleasure  at  the 
correct  statements  made,  and  then  narrated  an  amusing 
incident.  The  day  before  the  battle  he  was  stationed 
with  his  artillery  opposite  an  outpost  of  the  enemy.  A 
young  British  soldier  called  out:  "Give  us  a  dish  of 
pumpkin  and  milk."  Lieutenant  Mattoon  responded  by 
ordering  a  gunner  to  train  a  gun  filled  with  grape  shot  on 
the  campfire.     The  logs  were  scattered  in  all  directions. 

During  these  last  years  Colonel  Trumbull,  who  painted 
the  portraits  of  many  Revolutionary  officers,  came  to 
Amherst,  and  asked  General  Mattoon  to  go  to  New  Haven 
and  sit  for  his  picture.  We  are  indebted  for  the  copy  of 
this  picture,  as  painted  by  the  distinguished  artist,  to  Mr. 
Gridley,  grandson  of  General  Mattoon.  Mrs.  Clapp,  the 
owner  of  the  picture  of  Mary  Mattoon,  says  that  the 
original  Trumbull  portrait  of  the  General  is  in  the  pos- 
session of  Mrs.  Eliza  Orme. 

The  people  of  Amherst  well  remember  the  erect  sol- 
dierly figure  of  General  Mattoon  as  with  his  cane  he 
walked  about  the  streets.  By  counting  his  steps  he  could 
find  his  way  anywhere  he  desired  to  go,  but  so  many 
children  were  anxious  to  lead  him  that  he  was  often  seen 
with  a  flock  of  them  about  him.  He  was  not  content  to 
remain  at  home,  but  even  in  extreme  old  age  took  trips  to 
different   parts   of  the   country.     In    1839   he  visited  his 


8o  Mary  Mattoon  and 

Alma  Plater,  Dartmouth  college.  Mrs.  Robinson,  grand- 
daughter of  Noah  D.  Mattoon,  tells  of  a  visit  the  Gen- 
eral made  to  her  grandfather  when  the  latter  was  living 
in  Unionville,  Ohio.  The  old  General  and  his  son  went 
to  call  on  Judge  Wheeler.  A  few  days  after,  the  General 
repeated  the  visit,  going  and  coming  alone  in  perfect 
safety.  He  had  counted  his  steps  the  first  time  he  went 
over  the  ground.  After  1830  he  made  two  journeys  to 
Boston  every  year  to  draw  his  pension,  upon  which  he  lived. 
His  granddaughter,  Mrs.  Vannevar,  mentions  the  fact 
that  he  visited  her  in  Boston  the  spring  before  he  died, 
when  he  must  have  been  eighty-seven  years  old.  He  also 
travelled  to  Philadelphia  and  had  a  visit  with  Mrs.  Wol- 
cott,  his  granddaughter.  She  found  him  as  amusing  and 
cheerful  as  of  old,  and  heard  him  repeat  with  delight  the 
stories  which  he  used  to  tell  the  little  East  Street  girl. 
He  never  repined  or  complained  about  his  blindness,  but 
said  that  he  considered  it  to  be  one  of  the  greatest  bless- 
ings that  had  ever  come  to  him.  He  seemed  to  feel  that 
his  ambitions  had  for  a  season  occupied  too  large  a  share 
in  his  life. 

la  1 840  Levi  Stockbridge  heard  General  Mattoon  speak 
in  College  Hall  at  the  time  of  the  Harrison  campaign. 
In  ringing  tones  the  old  Revolutionary  hero  of  eighty-five 
declared  that  if  he  had  a  son  who  would  not  vote  for 
Harrison  he  would  disown  him.  The  old  soldier  was  not 
dead  yet!     Henry  Jackson  remembered  that  when  there 


BURIAL    LOT    IN    WEST    CEMETERY. 


-   Her  Hero  of  the  Revolution  8i 

was  some  trouble  in  the  East  Street  school,  the  blind  old 
General  came  over,  and  rapping  violently  with  his  cane, 
said,  ''  I  have  come  to  see  about  this  !"  This  quelled  the 
disturbance.  A  party  of  boys  were  playing  ball  east  of 
the  General's  house.  The  General  appeared  and  shaking 
his  cane  ordered  them  to  leave.  They  ran  away  so 
frightened  that  two  boys  tried  to  get  through  the  same 
hole  in  the  fence  and  one  had  to  back  out.  The  com- 
m.anding  voice  and  figure  compelled  obedience  though 
the  old  man  was  blind  and  helpless. 

Sept.  12,  1843,  we  find  in  the  Hampshire  Gazette-. 

"  Another  hero  gone.  It  becomes  our  melancholy  duty 
to  record  the  death  of  another  revolutionary  patriot. 
General  Ebenezer  Mattoon  departed  this  life  in  Amherst 
yesterday  afternoon,  Sept.  11,  at  4  o'clock,  after  a  sick- 
ness of  about  four  weeks." 

Mrs.  Vannevar  says :  "  Grandfather  died  in  the  old 
house  and  my  mother  (the  wife  of  his  son  Ebenezer) 
took  care  of  him.  He  was  sick  from  the  4th  of  July  till 
the  nth  of  September.  He  was  very  patient  through  his 
sickness." 

The  following  week  the  Gazette  published  : 

"  The  funeral  obsequies  of  this  venerable  patriot  and 
Christian  were  observed  in  the  church  in  which  he  was 
accustomed  to  worship,  in  East  Amherst,  on  Thursday 
afternoon  last.     A  large  number  assembled  to  pay  their 


82  Mary  Mattoon  and 

tribute  of  respect  and  affection  to  the  high  standing  and 
worth  of  their  deceased  friend  and  fellow  citizen.  The 
solemnities  of  the  occasion  were  opened  with  a  dirge,  fol- 
lowed by  reading  of  scripture  and  prayer  by  Rev.  Dr. 
Humphrey  and  sermon  by  Rev.  Mr.  Belden,  pastor  of  the 
church.  The  discourse  was  very  appropriate  to  the 
solemn  event ;  but  in  compliance  with  the  wishes  of  the 
deceased,  the  occasion  was  improved  for  the  benefit  of 
the  living,  rather  than  in  bestowment  of  panegyric  upon 
the  dead.  The  deceased  had  selected  the  following  pas- 
sage in  Job,  which  he  had  meditated  much  upon,  as  the 
theme  of  discourse  :  But  man  dieth,  and  wasteth  away ; 
yea,  man  giveth  up  the  Ghost,  and  where  is  he  ?  .  .  . 
The  preacher  expressed  unwavering  confidence  in  the 
belief  that  the  venerable  patriot  of  the  Revolution  had 
died  fighting  in  the  cause  of  the  Redeemer,  and  was 
enjoying  the  rich  reward  of  the  faithful  soldier  of  the 
cross.  The  deceased  attributed  his  final  conversion  to 
the  Providence  of  God  which  deprived  him  of  sight. 
That  otherwise  great  calamity  had  been  the  source  of 
his  greatest  blessing." 

Side  by  side  in  old  West  cemetery,  surrounded  by  a 
host  of  friends  and  neighbors,  Mary  Mattoon  and  her 
Hero  of  the  Revolution  sleep.  The  tombstone  bears 
these  inscriptions : 

"Gen.  Ebenezer  Mattoon  died  Sept.  ii,  1843,^.  88." 

"  Mary  D.  wife  of  General  E.  Mattoon  died,  July  30, 
1835,  ^'  77." 

The  A?nherst  Chapter,  Daughtejs  of  tJic  Amer2ta7i  Revo- 
lution,  is  proud    to    bear  the  name  of  Mary   Mattoon,  a 


Her  Hero  of  the  Revolution  8j 

woman  who,  like  the  wife  of  Samuel  Adams,  was  ambitious 
for  her  Hero  of  the  Revolution,  to  whose  success 
she  devoted  with  loving  self-sacrifice  a  life  of  arduous 
toil,  a  life  inconspicuous,  but  none  the  less  worthy  of  her 
country's  praise,  an  example  of  those  domestic  virtues 
which  made  the  New  England  home  the  source  of  the 
nation's  strength. 


PRESS   OF 

Carpenter  &  Morehouse, 
amherst.  mass. 


A 


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